Brendan and vet Rowan D. Sanderson cover holiday hazards for pets (a dog swallowed a 12-inch carving knife; grapes, chocolate, macadamia nuts, and onions are toxic) and humans. For holiday indulgence, they recommend UltraBinder, ionic hydrogen tablets, and liposomal glutathione, plus hydration and walking after meals.
Chapters
Good evening!
Oh my goodness me, like the Christmas thing, you know. Oh, good evening and happy Christmas pre-Eve.
Pre-pre-pre-Eve. Oh, so you must be so excited having a young daughter, getting all ready for the stuff that's coming. Come on, Have you got everything sorted?
Do you know, that's so accurate. It's really put the pizzazz back into Christmas. And I've always been a fan of Christmas, I admit. You know, I love some Christmas decorations and an excuse to watch Love Actually and maybe have a glass of champagne. And also, it's just a great excuse to catch up with loads of people that you haven't during the year, loved ones and the rest. But having a 2-year-old now, you know, there's extra magic around it. There's extra sprinkle around the tree. Let's be honest. You've been through that, Brendan. You know what it's like.
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm just having a quick look at our live. There's people coming on. Something's gone wrong on my end. So I'm going to have a look to see if I reboot my Facebook, I'll be able to see the comments.
Oh my goodness, I'm so glad this is happening to you, not me. Happy Christmas.
Happy Christmas.
Anyway, how is your Christmas preparations going, Brendan?
Do you know what? It's that rush before the break, and that's the thing, is always remembering that there's more to fit in than you actually probably need to fit in, but you feel like you need to fit in extra because you're not going to be around for a at least a week.
100%. Welcome to the mind music of the entrepreneur.
Yes. It's wonderful. I am really enjoying it, really. It's just so many things to do, but I love all of the aspects of all of the different things that I'm involved with, from Bella and Duke through to what we do with the Health Sensei, to the work at the vets with Tower Wood, to all of the fun we've been having with RPM this year. You know, we did a bit of a review yesterday to go through that, so you know, it's just been brilliant.
So it's all very well deserved and it's nice to see anybody following their passion.
Yeah, well, you know, and the thing that I wanted to bring tonight was actually in all of that rushing and prep and stuff is that I haven't really managed to give people at home who haven't necessarily been in to see us some stuff that they can do for their pets, but also for themselves for Christmas, you know, because, you know, there's so much that, you know, I remember when I first was a vet, the number of people that would ring in with the classics for Christmas Day out of hours, you know, 7 o'clock in the evening or even worse, 8 o'clock on Boxing Day morning. You'd get the, I wonder if you could help me, my dog has eaten, you know, and yeah, oh yeah, we should go through all of those. So I think we sort of need to just touch on those so that people have got a bit of an understanding of what to look out for, what they should try and lift out of the way of their dogs so that they're not on the coffee table in front of, uh, the, uh, crispy turkey skin. Hello, pancreatitis, please step up. Oh, well, look, you know, it goes all the way to the classic when I was doing an out-of-hours service for the whole of Leeds at the PDSA and somebody had left the carving knife in the joint. Okay, and so the—
holy moly, please tell me this is a real story.
This is absolutely God's honest truth, grabbed the knife, okay, swallowed it handle first. Oh, fortunately, obviously, as it went down into the esophagus, so we took an X-ray. My colleague lifted the dog up, checked the table just to make sure that we had left a knife on the table. We had a 12-inch carving knife. Swallowed handle first. Oh, into—
goodness me—
resting in the stomach of the dog with the blade up through the, um, the cardiac sphincter into the esophagus. Um, so yeah, that's one thing just to be aware of.
Oh my goodness me, I don't know why you had to tell me that. Oh, oh no.
So, so desperate things can happen. So yeah, just, yeah, be a wee bit careful with those really tasty juices hanging around for your little pooches, you know, especially those that can jump to counter height quite easily.
Yeah, now I did read a stat, and I don't know if this is fact or fiction or utter pup fiction. Please, you can direct us on this one. He's getting involved.
He's going to be doing this before you know it. Absolutely.
Rain down upon you. About 90% of cases of pancreatitis in North America happen immediately after Thanksgiving because people obviously give this ultra heat-treated, super crispy turkey skin, which is all the bad fats, all oxidized, to their dogs as a treat. 'For a treat this year, I'm going to sabotage my dog's health for the rest of its life.
Happy Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving.' And what people just get is, 'Oh, it must be because of the fatty food.' But no, it's actually how it's cooked. It's all the oxidation. It's the processed stuff. And actually, the amount of super processed food that we have on our table, it's not just the fatty turkey skins or whatever. It's all of the pigs in blankets, the, you know, extra pickles, the all of the sweet stuff. And then we're going to come on to, I think this is the right point to bring in really importantly, the mince pies and the Christmas puddings. Okay. Now guys, if you haven't already heard of this, and I'm sure that just about everybody on the planet by now should have heard this, but please remember for our little furry friends, grapes have a toxin within them, and that toxin is also found in any raisins, so anything that's dried, so raisins, sultanas, any of those that are then put into our food. So whether that be some plum pudding, Christmas pudding, mince pie, panacotta, whatever it is that you're sticking that dried fruit into, okay, if it contains grapes, or even if you're just doing a, you know, forest mix and you're grabbing raisins out and you're giving them to the kids in their stockings, please make sure if your dogs are anywhere near them, you're out, they're out of reach, because the toxin that's in there is not something that will kill them like that. But it is something that is cumulative and will take time and will knock out their kidneys. And if you say to me, and I've had many, many clients say, oh well, we've given them a grape every now and again, they've never dropped dead, they're not going to drop dead. Okay, what happens is if you just do it occasionally, their kidneys slowly go into failure and they then start having a problem around 8 or 9 or 10 But the big issue is if they have been fed or have scavenged stuff like that, that extra mince pie, that piece of Christmas pudding could be the precipice which pushes them over the edge for their kidneys.
Yeah, I've heard similar. It's a really good point. And if we have to actually repeat this every year, let's do this. For all those people who actually know this, thank you for indulging it. For those people, there only needs to be one person who doesn't know, for every time we do this, we've saved a dog's life, or at least the potentially going off the precipice.
Yeah.
And it's funny because I have people in the human side say, come over to me and say quite often, and been doing something which is ultra health-threatening. I'd say, I've been doing it for years and it never bothered me until then. And it was like, do you think it's the fact that you've been doing it for years which has added up to this?
Yeah, you do wonder, don't you? You just sort of like, yeah, they— it's sometimes that disconnect when they've been doing something that sort of crept under the radar. Yeah, you know, I guess it's the same with the smoking scenario, you know, people start off smoking, it's a social thing, it's, you know, feels great because they're doing it amongst friends. There's no real sort of big issue as far as they're concerned. And then suddenly they hit 40, if they're lucky. And then all of a sudden, health issues start to creep up on them. Their lung capacity is not quite what it should be. But there's all sorts of other stuff, isn't there, with the— that's created by the inflammation that creeps up on them.
You know, I am— I'm almost not going to go into this rabbit hole and why. It's Christmas, and, you know, there's zero judgment here from Rowan D. Sanderson. And my goal always in our practice is to empower people to live whichever life they want with all of the things they want. But what I will say about that is there seems to have been a social desensitization to the effects of smoking recently in this last 10, 15 years where it's made a comeback and it's almost like a rebel against society or something. It's like you're just rebelling against yourself. Point 1. Point 2 is the thing that freaks me out is actually more about what it's doing to that inflammation around your heart and how oxidizing those cholesterol molecules is really double dangerous. It's this unseen killer effect which is going on. Now, we'll cover more about that when we do heart health. And we have a dive into it. But that's just something to be aware of anyway. Hopefully you've saved a dog, Brendan, or maybe several.
And remember, if they do consume some of that, there is an injection that can make them sick. Okay? And I'm sorry if you're eating your tea right now, but just for a point of view of, you know, if there's something super toxic— and I'm going to touch on a few other things this evening for dogs that may go into that bracket— there is an injection that can be given. It will make them sick within you know, 2 to 3 minutes, but you can't leave the stuff on board for 2 to 3 hours and then take them to the vet. You know, if you've seen them, let's list the things, okay, the big things. Chocolate, okay, macadamia nuts, especially covered in chocolates, okay, just out of interest there. One nut that is poisonous for dogs. Onions, especially in sage and onion stuffing. People forget about that, that actually they're packed with loads of onion in sage and onion stuffing. Okay, we've talked about mince pies and Christmas pud. Yeah, anything on those lines. There are some other things that they may come across that, you know, in the toys side of things that it's worth making them sick for. Any pitted fruits, so fruits which have a stone in, okay, then sometimes it's better if they've taken a whole apricot or something like that, or a plum, that it's best to make them sick to bring it up because the esophagus is far more likely to pass that than allowing it to go down the intestine and get lodged somewhere in the intestine, especially for a smaller dog. Yeah. Yeah, for a Great Dane, it probably will pass through at that sort of size. Peach, not so much. Okay, but certainly some of the smaller ones. But anything like that, just bear that in mind. Please try and avoid those if you can. And if you can't and it's got into the stomach, please ring your emergency vets. So one of my number one tips for your prep for Christmas please make sure you know what your vet's emergency service is and how to get hold of that at this point. So if you don't know right now and you can't find it online, give them a ring when it's their opening hours. You've got another day to 2 days at least to work that out.
You know, this is so obvious, it's absolute gold. Yeah, you know, it really is. And I empathize with anybody who's been through that. And my one point on this is time is of the essence. Having gone through this 2, 3 times with Mr. Mustache, our errand ginger cat— holy moly. You know, for those of you who don't know, Mr. Mustache, our cat, went through a thing of, I think it was mainly attention seeking, of actually eating the top of our baby's bottle. Oh God, I remember. Swallowing them. And at one point turned his intestines inside out and was in horrible pain. Now, apart from the fact he was in horrible pain, it left us in horrible financial pain as well. Uh, he's fine, by the way. He's absolutely fine. But he did this twice, and we were left with staggering bills for people to go in out of hours with a camera and perform some surgery. Um, so yes, time is of the essence. If you can actually make your dog or cat sick up the offending item before you go into the— requiring Steven Spielberg to go in there I advise it with a camera.
Oh, bless. So do, do look at that. There is an injection, so all is not lost if that happens. I want to just clear up something as well, actually, whilst, um, there's quite a few things online which will look at onions and say how toxic they are for dogs, okay, and cats as it happens, and then they'll bring in the old garlic and go, and that's just as bad. Okay, and what I'd like to say is that actually it takes— now I'm just gonna, just for purposes of—
you'll hear, you're gonna eat a raw bulb of garlic live on that, kiss your dog, because that's how Christmasy you feel.
Happy Christmas everybody, except to vampires.
In the Ilkley Massif.
So it takes 20 of those a day for 7 days to be toxic to a 10-kilo dog. Okay. So just before you get all upset about you've got garlic in their bone broth or you've got garlic in, you know, gravy or some flea or tick treatment or whatever. It's, you know, the papers actually show, yes, it is toxic, but you have to reach a level of 20 cloves per day for 7 days to show any effects in a 10-kilo dog. Okay, so just be aware.
Quite interestingly, compare and contrast What is the dose sensitivity for onions on approximately a 10 kilo dog?
One of those will probably cause your 10 kilo dog's blood cells to start breaking down and to also in some cases stops the hemoglobin working. So it actually creates a methemoglobin, which basically turns their blood chocolatey, stops them carrying oxygen. Not very nice.
No. Okay, so it's good to be aware.
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so just to give you a little bit of insight there. So that's the horrible, horrible stuff. Let's, let's talk a little bit about— because we don't want to be judgmental, and you know, we're all partial to enjoying Christmas.
We're all about the empowerment.
But I would, you know, I'm going to bring some dog stuff on so that we know what to do in the aftermath. Okay. But I'd love to hear from you, Rowan. And I've got my props here ready. Okay. So, you know, if we're partial to a little bit of G&T and the odd dram of whiskey. Okay.
I don't know what you've been taking, Brendan. Maybe it's the peptides, but your hands have got massive.
I know. The bottles are getting smaller. I'm in Yorkshire. Okay, and that's all we can afford. This is, this is, that's my wife's and that's mine.
Happy Christmas.
Happy Christmas, dear. Anyway, we've gone from 70 CL to 7.
Inflation saves everyone's liver.
So yeah, so lots of people talk about, look, they want to enjoy themselves. What's wrong with having the odd, you know, thirsty ferret? Okay, um, the, you know, a little bit of beer, a little bit of alcohol, you know, it's all about fun, why are you spoiling my downtime? So where does that come in in the grand scheme of things? You know, what, alcohol is good because we hear a glass of red wine should be great. Okay, um, what sort of levels do you say should be reasonable for somebody to take, and what sort of gets to be a little bit, guys, maybe just back off? What's your experience?
Well, I've got good news and bad news on this, Brendan.
Okay, he says, this is not gin, this is water, honest.
The bad news is that there has been a swathe of research that has come out in the last 3 months, and the whole heart health resveratrol and, um, longevity studies with maybe a little bit of alcohol in the diet has not simply been blown out the water It's been blown out the water and then ceremoniously sunk. So, um, there's some science facts and then there's some reality facts. My— the science facts are actually, uh, the more we understand about alcohol as a toxin, the more we realize that it's super neurotoxic and it, it brings with it virtually zero benefit.
Okay. Okay.
Now, the good news is, and it comes in two parts. One, we're not judgmental. Two, we don't care. And three, we have a couple of offsets and things which will really lower the damage for you. Because there's— and I've always found this in practice— is that actually, it's not about the science or the facts. It's about meeting people where they are and supporting them in their choices. And that's the key part. There are lots of people who say, well, you know, and I've heard this before, well, you've got to have some fun and you only live once. And let's be honest, Ro has definitely indulged in a few Christmases, and I've certainly looked after a few wayward rock stars, film stars, actresses, etc. And I just put my hand up to Waywood, not to Rockstar or Filmstar.
Exactly.
There's only so much karaoke the local pub can actually ban you from. So here are some great things, Brendan. Now, obviously, if you think of AON, There's avoidance, which, you know, not everybody's going to want to do, but what you might want to do is be selective about the types of alcohol that you do indulge in. I know we have a view that tequila is for shots and stag dos, but tequila ironically is one of the least damaging alcohols because of the way it's transformed into or not into formaldehydes. Sorry, it's acetaldehydes.
I'm listening.
So the lighter, clearer alcohols are generally the better. The less sugar are generally the better. Beers really mess with your hormones. And if you're going to go for wine, definitely try and go for a high quality red wine which has ideally not too many sulfites in. Oh my goodness. Now, okay, there's a couple of things you can do. So we've talked about avoidance or being selective. There's the neutralizing part of it. Now, something you can do which really lowers the amount of toxins that you will be absorbing yourself while you're having a few drinks is get something like like an ultra binder. Now this is really, really interesting. Why? It's not simply, um, it's, it's not simply charcoal, because everybody says charcoal, but charcoal is not very good at binding with alcohol. This is different. Why? It's got actually a little bit of clay in it, which is excellent at trapping the toxins in alcohol.
It's also got some aloe vera in it, And so this is not just clay. Okay, let's just be clear about this.
Yeah, and definitely don't bake yourself after eating it.
This is like, uh, usually a montarillamite, so an edible green clay or something along those lines.
Yes, exactly. You're not going to mix it yourself, you know, you're going to get a specific binder, and it's worth it. The difference it makes. And in fact, when I came to visit you at the RFVS, knowing that we would indulge that evening, I popped a few capsules of this and made sure I drank plenty of water, and it makes me feel so much better in the morning. Now, one of the top tricks I do before— and I've not shared this with you before, Brendan, I'm letting you into the inner circle— is I take some hydrogen.
All right. Okay.
Now, hydrogen is the most potent antioxidant on the face of the planet. And what you do is you take it about 20 minutes before you take this. Why? Because this will bind to pretty much everything you take afterwards. So you need to take some hydrogen before. Now, there's a really important thing you do when you're taking it is you pop it into your glass of water, you pop a tablet in, and you want to get as much of that gas as possible. So start drinking it within 20 seconds of it going into the glass and keep topping up the glass, right, until it's all dissolved and keep drinking it. The molecule hydrogen is so small it goes through the cell walls. People who've been taking it for a month have noticed a difference in the skin. It is exceptional. So that— wow— plus that is absolute gold. Take some the day before, wait, the night before you do it, take some in the morning, and that is a— those two things are a huge get-out-of-jail-free card.
Now, I'm going to apologize to everybody out there. I know there are some science geeks that follow us, okay? And I desperately want to understand this little nuance, okay? So for some of us who know molecular chemistry, we're going to be thinking, okay, hydrogen Okay, is a gas. We're not going to see it. Okay. And if we make it into a solid, it's got to be super, super cold. Okay. In order to do that, or we're going to have to chelate it with something else to effectively create a salt. So a hydrogen ion bound to something. Yeah. Please tell me, give me the insight. Okay. In the tablet, what is in it and how does it release the hydrogen without it being super cold or, you know, even a liquid gas? Okay, that would be super cold.
Right. Well, it depends, Brandon. That depends on the brand. So for instance, this is ionic hydrogen bound with magnesium, right? So it's a magnesium glycinate. So it's really win-win. I actually have a research nutritionals one Okay. Which has got quite a bit of magnesium in it. And I have the Quicksilver one and I just have it down here. And this one has got adipic acid, sodium stearofumarate, tartaric acid. It's in a matrix. It goes into a matrix, not just purely a hydrogen ion.
So an acid because H+ creates an acid.
So, oh golly, of course not. And there's a couple of things. Is one, go for a reputable brand. Quicksilver is a really good one. This Research Nutritionals is also really good. I get this from Amrita. The, the thing that you should be aware of is you want the gas. It is very reactive and people are making a fortune erroneously or wrongly selling hydrogen water in plastic sachets. That's no good. Why? The hydrogen molecules are so small it actually leaves the plastic. So this is why you want it in a stable form in a tablet for it to put it into your water and drink it as it goes. Okay, so you've hit on something really important there.
Yeah, yeah.
But those two are my favorite. My, my next one, Brendan, is glutathione.
Great.
Yeah, yeah, you know, glutathione, keep it at home, liposomal formula in your fridge, 5ml before you go out with your hydrogen.
Then is that the one that smells slightly of cabbage?
It does.
It is.
A lot of people go, this tastes awful. You can get it with some natural lemon or orange flavor if you're—
yeah, things like that.
Exactly. Um, there's some really quality brands out there now. Uh, it's important how you store it, right? Some are more stable than others. But basically, if you're going to look at your Christmas holy trinity get-out-of-jail-free card, it would be liposomal glutathione, H2 ionic hydrogen.
Yeah, I do one.
Yes, they do. And it's one of the more affordable brands like BeLife. So the holy trinity, just to recap, is liposomal glutathione, some ionic hydrogen with something like magnesium in it, and then some UltraBinder. Now the UltraBinder comes in capsule form where you can get it in sachets. Sometimes I've only had a sachet. And anyway, we won't go into that. But those 3 things are pretty much the biggest wins that you can get and will allow you to indulge and feel great the next day.
Yeah. And so I'd like to reflect, because that's not just necessarily about indulging in alcohol, that's also indulging in foods. Oh, for sure. You're really getting rich foods and that side of things. For some people, they cope. For others, it becomes a little bit of a nightmare for their gut. I think all of those things that you've just talked about can be great, but this also reflects for your dogs. You know, for many of us, you know, we can't resist those gooey eyes that are looking up from under the table, or, you know, they're sat next to us and, you know, the relatives are all of a sudden, you know, their hands coming off the table, under the table, and before you know it, they've there's 12 pigs in blankets have disappeared into the dog from each individual person around the table, let alone some of the sprouts where you're trying to use them as a waste disposal, so you're dipping them in gravy and sticking them in the dog. But, you know, from a point of view of be aware that even the non-toxic stuff, you know, can give your dog's tummy a bit of an upset. And there is, just as we've talked about the binder that's there, there are some pastes that are available from pet stores and from vets which are like a probiotic paste but with a lot of postbiotics, prebiotics, and also the montarilla mite clay, um, in there. So that is something that can be really useful to have pre-bought before Christmas. So again, preparation for Christmas, you know, when you're out shopping, if your pet store doesn't have one of the brands like Protexin or the— there's so many out there now, the Vet Plus Digestive Health one, the NutriVet do one, you know, they're usually sort of around the— if your dog's got diarrhea, this is the paste to use. You double dose them for the first day and then it's a single dose daily thereafter for 3 days or so. 90% of diarrheas will clear up with that. Now the exceptions are going to be if your dog is vomiting or if there's severe blood in the feces. Please make sure you're in touch with your local vet. Okay, but if it's just eaten too much, bit of a groany tummy, has some loose stool, okay, is out straining, passing jelly mucus, that can be a lifesaver as far as just being able to give it and dose it accordingly. Of course, try to avoid, you know, advise the family, look, you know, one maybe, two max. Anything beyond that, wow, that's far too much, you know.
Yeah, and especially when you start looking at, yeah, the size/weight of a dog. Yeah, it's not like they have an off button. And just because a dog, you know, and this is where zoo pharma cognizance always falls down for me.
Yeah, what's good for it Not always. Well, it's the same. There was a great experiment in the 1920s at Claire's Kids, which is around an orphanage. And actually, it was amazing when they gave them a full range of foods, watching even those children being able to go for the things that they really needed, even down to cod liver oil. And stuff like that, that you'd think, oh my God, that'd be terrible, over sugar being put on the table. But as I said last night, there's always that exception. I think if people push the button and are fixated on addiction, you know, addiction will always override sensible brain decisions.
So of course it does. And, you know, it's not just a a longer-term addiction. You know, your point you raise is really important. It's not just a longer-term addiction where people get this certain high or a certain buzz or an opiate buzz from— and we know the classic, the classic opiate buzz is cheese on toast, you know, foods. Gluteomorphin and casiomorphin stick together, both sit on those opioid receptors in your brain. And people go, it's warming, it's nourishing, it's— you listen to what your body needs. No, you're pacifying yourself. That's okay. You know, and, you know, it should be part of the psycho test. Who doesn't like cheese on toast?
This is the bit where I want that little emoji of, is it Maggie from The Simpsons doing the sucking on the pacifier? Yeah, exactly, exactly.
But, you know, addictions aren't simply things which are, you know, sit-on sensors, or we've become addicted to. It could simply be that you're on a sugar roller coaster. Now, there will be people out there listening to this who are nodding sagely, remembering, you know, 20 years ago eating a space cake, then going around and eating everything in the house, you know. So, you know, I'm assuming that not everybody is going to be eating a space cake on some Moroccan beach hut at Christmas. But for those of you who get onto a sugar roller coaster, do be aware that you might need to just stabilize your sugar, drink a load of water. And one of the really good things you can do is have a strategic intermittent fast if you want to feel better and you really indulge the night before rather than getting straight— and I'm talking food, alcohol, the whole the whole shebang, Brendan, is that best thing you can do is get up in the morning, drink a load of water, preferably with some ionic hydrogen in it. Go for a walk with your dog, a nice long walk before you eat, maybe with a coffee. That break allows your body to actually— and I'm going to use the word detoxify, which I know is nonsense, and, you know, but I'm going to use the word detoxify. I'm going to say it's going to allow your body to do the job it wants to do, which is look after you and keep you alive. Absolutely.
So no breakfast Boxing Day sandwich packed with extra crispy bacon, big white roll, lots of bread and gooey leftovers from the night before. No, don't do that.
You know, I actually think—
You might love alcohol, but that's not really what you want to be doing right now.
I know. Obviously been in practice for years and years and years, Brendan. And most people have a better Christmas and have a lot less guilt and just generally feel a lot mentally better and enjoy it. The moments of indulgence when they actually feel like they're in control of it, they're empowered, and they've actually said they've taken a strategic decision where, do you know what? I'm just going to go out for a really long walk. Or even getting up and going for a long walk after Christmas dinner, what it does to your glucose transport is astonishing. What it does is it shuttles a lot of that into your muscle cells so you don't end up feeling like Jabba the Hutt at the end of it when you're just like stunned with food. You enjoy your whole day is my point. You enjoy your evening. You're not just actually unconscious.
And that brings in something that I would say has been It's great listening to you. Yeah, when we talk about hydration, just the benefits of drinking good water throughout the day, because it will almost— it inhibits you from overindulging on some of those comfort foods if you are fully hydrated. So actually, you can still enjoy those bits, but just take less. So you've got more to spread out for through the week or whatever, but just stay hydrated. Get a really good water that you're going to feel great about drinking. Okay. Not necessarily tap water in many places around the world, unless you've got some crystal spring outside the back of your house that you're pumping water from. I would say, yes, just think about treating yourself to really good water. That you can take a glass, you know, every time you're thinking, I'm a little bit peckish, or I want to reach for something sweet, just take yourself a half glass of water and then see how you feel.
You know, staying hydrated just makes you feel better, full stop. And, you know, your point about tap water, totally. Our tap water either comes with extra chlorine or Giardia and they don't seem to have found a middle, a happy middle place.
Oh, the thought! That'll be a Boxing Day to remember. I think it was the dog.
Oh golly, yeah, we did get Giada several times when we didn't realize that Every time the water tank at the top of the mountain flooded, it got loads of wildfowl resting in it and obviously defecating in it. But if anybody does happen to get Giardia, I can't really say this live on Facebook and the rest, but there is a really good pharmaceutical hack which will deal with it in 2 to 3 days. It was shared with me by a functional medicine practitioner friend of mine who'd been traveling around India and had tried all the normal things for getting rid of giardia, and this just smashes it.
And it's only available by direct messaging the Health Sensei, and then somebody can give you a little bit of an insight. So if you want to know what that real great hack is, you're going to have to DM the Health Sensei, and Irish will get back to you with the special hack.
The save your bottom hack.
And it's not a cork.
Anyway, so please don't put that in the thing to poor Irish when you do help at the hands, I'd say, for her attention, save my bottom. That's not the type of email she needs to require, she needs to receive.
Thank you. So the other things that I would therefore bring in, remember there's a couple of things that we've got to do with appetites. Okay, with Christmas decorations, some of the classics, especially for cats, is tinsel or the string of any joint that's been made, because they create a linear foreign body. So people might think, oh, they were playing with it, it disappeared, never mind, it's only thin, it'll be fine. As soon as it's longer than about 3 inches, there is a risk that as it goes through the gut, the gut, instead of being nice and flat, suddenly bunches up and scrunches. And just like a hair scrunchie, once it scrunches, it starts tugging the first part, and sometimes it even pulls it through into the other part of the intestine. We call it a linear foreign body. Nightmare to get out, really not great. Doesn't show easily on X-ray unless it's got loads of metallic stuff on on like some tinsels. And so be aware of if your dog or cat is playing with anything that's of a length. Don't just go, oh, they've eaten it, never mind, it'll be fine. Okay. Especially if you've got cats up the Christmas tree. Just be aware of that. And then the other thing is corks. So if you're popping corks, okay, and it sounds like it's fun and it's firing around the room and you've got a spaniel like mine that's like super alert to where the cork's gone, okay, please don't let them pick it up and eat it, okay? Even if you think, oh, they're just chewing it up into bits, because they may swallow, especially champagne corks, just the right size to block the intestine.
Well, let's face it, I mean, that's what corks were designed to do. Um, not block intestines, but block something. Alcohol. Exactly. So it's good to be reminded about these because so many things— and I mean, Mustache, our cat, frankly, if there's anything dangerous, he can sniff it from like 15 meters away. You remember the time I phoned you up and I was like, Brendan, what's going on? He's doing these special foamy barks and falling over. And you were like, does he have toads in the garden? It's like, oh, we get these really big toads which come out in February. And the mustache has obviously been out bothered one, and it's making toads. Yeah, reaped its psychoactive revenge on him. That was the first and last time he did ayahuasca.
Not true.
He goes every year. 3 years old, every year.
Toads out.
Oh, I'm going to go for my private ayahuasca ceremony. Back down the end of the garden.
Oh, gets the animal communicator in.
Absolutely.
All of the stuff that he saw in his dream. Yeah, yeah.
I think he's claiming to be a shaman these days. He's so experienced.
Oh, so, um, what else can we say? Yes, um, So I've got two more things that I would like to share with people. Um, uh, so anything else that we've not covered for the human side in Indulgence for Christmas?
Um, I think we've done more about empowerment on the human side because you feel in charge. Uh, what I would say is there are things that you know that you're probably intolerant to. All I would do is invite people to really consider if you're intolerant, or even if you're allergic to, is it actually a treat to get in there and really threaten your immune system with it? Now, I'm speaking as one who has a couple of allergies, and there are ways that I've got round them in the past, but actually I always end up paying for it. And to the point where I go, that is actually not a treat. Yeah, you know, that looking like one of the toads that Mustache would lick in the garden is not a treat. And I don't mean from vanity perspective, I just mean how you feel.
So 30 seconds of blue cheese on your tongue.
Yeah, exactly. Massively allergic to penicillin. Wow, that looks so good on a steak. It's like, just choose your indulgences and being wise about that, taking a bit of a break, staying hydrated, taking some really good antioxidants. Events, taking some things to bind the toxins, it's pretty much giving you the grown-up carte blanche to go out, look after yourself, indulge, not be a party pooper, you know, and just make some sensible decisions. You will feel so good in the morning when you go, wow, I went out, I spoke to everybody, I had loads of fun. I was awake all night. I was alert all night. I was loads of fun all night. And I had an indulgence, but actually, you know, so what? I feel great. I'm going to go and walk the dog.
Went to bed, had a great sleep, and I actually remembered Christmas. I mean, that's the thing, you know.
Yeah, I didn't wake up with two traffic cones in the bed and a policeman outside the door and a car on its roof, which isn't even your car. What?
You mean the door being straight bars?
Yeah, exactly. I'm thinking Leonardo DiCaprio, the replay of him getting home in his— I think whatever it was, DeLorean or— but the point being, um, in all sincerity, do choose your indulgences, uh, and really enjoy them, and do so guilt-free, and go, okay, well, you know, I've got this in perspective, I'm enjoying it, because you need to have a healthy attitude with what you imbibe.
And, you know, it's a little bit late to do this little prep for Christmas, but maybe for next year. And I'm just going to have 11 months of food and alcohol. Yeah.
Brilliant. Thanks, Brendan.
I'm reaching for a fermented food here. So this is a kefir drink. Okay. So this is a kefir water rather than— so loads of people have issues with that. Dairy, but they do do kefir water. But there is a great ferment that you can make with red cabbage and through adding in a little bit of beetroot. So instead of doing the cooked red cabbage, I found a really great, almost like sauerkraut/kimchi that I found really good to have as that dish. Super easy because you can prepare it 2 weeks in advance, ferment it yourself. It's really easy to do. Have a look at some of the online recipes, get that fermenting, and literally you can serve it straight onto the Christmas table as if you'd done the cooked red cabbage. Okay. And it's super healthy. Adds in some nice probiotics at the time. By the time they've gone through your stomach, I'm afraid most of those bacteria will have died off. Okay. But the postbiotics, the vitamins, the nutrients within it can be great for you and are just a nice healthy addition to your Christmas table. So do you have a little look at that?
Will you be doing a turkey this year, Brandon?
So I have gone to a very specific place to get, yes, turkey. But reared in a specific way because I've done a lot of work over the last year looking at meats and what they have eaten and the effects that they have.
100%.
So I am actually getting something that's been organically reared, grass reared, you know, out and about in woodland areas as well. Okay, for any poultry, if they're woodland reared, is really good. They're getting insect life, they're getting all sorts of additions.
Is this somewhere in East Anglia?
No, no, no, no, this is up in Yorkshire.
Oh wow, because I used to get a traditional Christmas turkey from somebody who did a very similar thing, and it was a Kelly Bronze, which had been out or reared, and you need to have to book it like months and months and months in advance.
Yeah, so we've got some great farm shops that deal with this sort of stuff, and that's where I've gone.
Brilliant.
And that enables me to indulge, feel indulging in that. I get it boned because I'm, you know, I used to get the turkey, cook it, then reboil all the bones down, make bone broths and everything else. And I said to Christina, my wife, this year, I said, look, let's get something that we can just slice and dice, and we're not going to be wasting stuff, and it's just going to be prepped for us. It's going to be covered in a nice, great organic outdoor-reared bacon alongside an outdoor-reared turkey, jointed, stuffed with some great—
I'm getting quite hungry, Brendan. I might need to get it.
I could see it. So, you know, there's options, always options, isn't there? You know, just to enhance your Christmas dinner any way you can. And, you know, even thinking about gravies, you know, some of the great gravies out there, you know, have benefits for you. Oh, hugely, right. You know, they are effectively a bone broth. Um, and you know, you can get bone broths like this one, okay, which you can have as a powder, okay, which have got collagen in. You can add grass-fed collagen to thicken it if you like, okay. So yeah, there's a number out there that you can get as, you know, grass-fed, grass-finished hydrolyzed collagens if you want to thicken it without using like a flour or anything like that. And that can be really beneficial to you for your body, your gut lining, you know, how you use that.
And if you actually put in some pancetta in there as well, Brendan, with the turkey juices when you've roasted it now, and then I'd noticed Last year I managed to perfect it. We did one on like a giant barbecue outside and took it out and the turkey and the gravy was exactly— it was like a bone broth but super savory and it went gelatinous when it went cold. You could actually cut it into cubes and it would wobble like jelly. That is so good for your gut lining. That gelatin really, really, really heals your gut. And it gets used in your skin. It enhances absorption, it's super bioavailable, and it's just offensively tasty.
Yeah, no, so all great. And then there's great other things that you might want to just add as, you know, sprinkles onto any, you know, even that kimchi version. You can use pomegranate, you can use cranberries, you know, just get fresh and just sprinkle on. You don't need to go for the super sugared stuff. There's some great flavors just right there with great benefits. Yeah, you know, so, so enjoy your Christmas dinner. I hope you have a glorious time with your pets and your family and friends. And even if you're on your own, you know, think, you know, we're there with you really to help you out. And I'm really looking forward to 2024. And sorting out some health stuff for pets and people together.
Do you know, wise words. Please, everybody, have an amazing holiday. And it's about connection, not presents. Or rather, your presence and your connection, rather than presents with a T. I confess, Brendan.
Presents. Yeah, exactly.
The man's speaking in riddles.
Is he drunk?
Take some more Ultrabinder. I confess I am more excited about 2024 than I can actually remember for a couple of— to put into place a couple of health things which I've not fully shared with you yet, Brendan, but I've got a health adventure planned for the Health Sensei and myself next year based on a few new learnings. And I'll be taking people on that journey, but also about all the people we are going to help. The female hormone thing is really taking off, the interest. And when you think it's 50% of the population of the planet is female, and about 50% of them are of an age where hormones are playing a huge role in the quality of their lives. So being able to actually perfect and improve and polish our offering so that people are listened to compassionately and dealt with timely and scientifically so that they're empowered to live vibrantly, I am— it gets me out of bed.
Yeah. And, and, you know, had so much interest about the cellular health tests and the, you know, omega-3s had so much health. You know, there's not just the female hormones, but the Dutch tests for looking at male hormones, you know, and, you know, into dogs. We're going to be looking into that in the new year. So we've got all of that to come together. So that's going to be so exciting.
You've not tried the Balance Oil yet that goes with the Cellular Health Test, have you?
No, no.
It's really nice. It's got an amazing, amazing citrus flavor to it. And I've been putting it into a special bespoke sleep stack, which I will share with people. Glycine is part of it, but I've been using that. Feedback from my partner is, it's amazing. Why haven't you done that before? It tastes like Froot Loops. Froot Loops.
Oh, my God.
When did you have Froot Loops?
Do we share? Oh, so there's so much to come. I'm looking forward to all of these new tests and stuff that we're going to do. The heart health stuff, yeah, the genetic methylation stuff. Oh, I'm just so excited. We've got all of that to come. So if you guys are super interested in your health, super interested in longevity and maintaining, maintaining your healthspan, uh, then, you know, please join us on this journey. Join us through 2024 and beyond, and we look forward to seeing you on the other side of Christmas.
Yeah, where there will be no guessing, just testing and facts. Well, peace out, Brendan.
Thanks for your time.
Great to see you.
No problem. Take care, everyone.
Happy Christmas.
Have a good Christmas.
