The Shocking Truth About The Global Epidemic Of Lyme Disease

Welcome to the Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast. We provide you with everything you need to know for total performance, fat loss, recovery, digestion, sleep, brain and hormone optimization. So whether you're an Ironman triathlete or you just want to shed a few pounds, get ready for non run of the mill cutting edge content from BenGreenfieldFitness.com.

Hey folks, it's Ben Greenfield here. And this week I watched a really interesting documentary that I have to tell you about. It was called Under Our Skin and it's about the hidden story of this disease that is literally all over the US and worldwide. People go undiagnosed with this disease all the time or get misdiagnosed quite frequently. And many people who suffer from the troubling effects of this are just told that their symptoms are all in their head. And this disease that the documentary, which is called Under Our Skin, talks about, is something that I wanted to bring to you in a podcast and I figured I would get somebody on who has, who has had this, who has had to get tested for it, and who has been able to overcome it. It's something that flies under the radar and that a lot of people have without even knowing it. So we're going to jump in and talk about this disease and what it is in today's episode. And I know I've got you on the edge of your seats right now, just wondering what it is that we're going to talk about, but I'm going to keep you on the edge of your seats just a little bit longer. Well, I intro our guest, Erin Elizabeth, and Erin has a website over@healthnutnews.com and she's had a passion for the healing arts for nearly 25 years. She started off in her teens working for a green nonprofit. She's into hot yoga and pilates and music therapy. And she's actually got a really great website, really great ebook, which you can check out and that's all over at the Health nut news website. I'll also put links to that in the show notes for this episode. I met Erin through her boyfriend, actually, Dr. Joseph Mercola, who you may recognize from the website Mercola.com and we're also going to put a link to a really helpful article over@mercola.com that covers what we're about to talk about as well. So, Erin, thanks so much for coming on the call.

Thanks, Ben. It's great to be here. Thank you for having me.

Do you like how I worked up all that mystery about what it is that we're actually going to be talking about.

I do. I have a smile on my face now because I'm wondering what people are thinking as they're listening. So, yes, it was well done.

Yeah, exactly. So walk me through the story of what you experienced, what you were feeling, and what you eventually found out that you had.

Sure. I guess since my teens. I mean, we're talking far back. I had had some symptoms on and off, and then kind of in my 30s, they had gotten pretty severe. And at that point in the past, they told me, oh, you had mono. Now it's gone. Maybe you have a little chronic fatigue. But throughout that, I would keep working out and just living life like everyone does and just dealing with it and just figuring, oh, everyone gets tired or get some joint pain or things like that.

So that's. It was just like being tired, joint pain, brain fog, chronic fatigue, those type of things. Yeah.

And it did eventually get worse, but they did, in 2006, give me the ELISA test, which is the kind of the cheap Lyme test that the CDC uses. Big surprise. It's not that great. So that's why they now recommend western blot, which is usually more accurate. So the test was negative. But also, Lyme can hide. Sometimes 30% of people do have a negative blood test. So I had a negative blood test on the cheaper.

So when you got this test. When you got this, you said it was the elite.

Yeah, E, L, I, S, A. And yes, that's just kind of your generic test that most doctors tend to do, which is why I wasn't even thinking of bringing that up. But it's a great point that people, if they go to a Lyme literate medical doctor or llmd, which they can usually look up online, find one in their area that understand and will do a western blot or some, you know, primary care physicians or someone would do a. Probably could. They could get them to order a western blot test as well.

What led you to test for Lyme disease in the first place? And by the way, if you're listening in, you now know that we're gonna be talking about Lyme disease. Did you read something that said that some of these symptoms that you were experiencing were things that people with Lyme disease frequently get, and you're like, oh, I'm gonna go test for this. Or did. How'd you kind of decide to throw that test in?

Yeah, and I hope I didn't blow it there with the Lyme or something.

Oh, you totally blew it. No, we're good. It would have been Revealed at some point, anyways.

Yeah, well, I was just in a primary care doctor in 06 with just your. I'd been through another hurricane here in Florida, and she thought it was just stress, but she did see that my symptoms with the strange joint pain and things at such a young age and I'm in shape, and she just thought that seemed so odd. So she did run a Lyme test in there, and I didn't even think twice about that. I guess I just thought that was something that happens if you live in Connecticut, you know, like Lyme, Connecticut.

I was pretty like. Like, basically what I'm familiar with is, is that you get it from deer in. Specifically, like in the. In the northeastern areas where there's like a bunch of deer and a bunch of ticks.

Sure, deer ticks. And. Yeah, I just thought, well, you know, I grew up in the Midwest, but it was a little towards the east, you know, edge. But I didn't realize that Lyme had been. Now even back then, was in Every. In all 50 states and in Europe, which I trav. And yeah, now we think that I probably got it at 13 when in a park, I had a tick. A history of a tick bite, because some people don't even remember that. But I'd had one, you know, I'm a kid, and I had one on the back of my leg. We're camping for two, three days, and I didn't see it for a day or two. And the longer they are on, you know, the worse. The more. The better your chances are, I should say. So, yeah, we think I had it 20 something years when I was finally diagnosed two years ago. But yeah, so they. On that one, it came up negative. But then I was tested in 2012 after other doctors to try to figure out what was going on, and things were getting worse. And then I was really having trouble with my workouts and things, which are just daily life and really working out is a passion to me. I had some friends who said, hey, Sam. And Susie Cohen, she's a writer and an amazing woman, has a couple bestsellers. But they're friends of mine and know Joe, Dr. Mercola. And they said, have you ever. You have pets, right? Have you ever had a tick bite? And I said, oh, yeah, you know, I've already had that test. And they said, no, but you've got to go to the right place in California and go to hygienics and get tested, you know, have the kits sent out. Joe can do it. And so I just did it, really just because they wouldn't leave me alone about it.

Now why you said Igenics. And by the way, I know we've got that link. It's iGenics.com, i'll put it in the show notes for this episode. But why is that test something you do instead of an ELISA test? Is it like the technology that they use in the test itself or is it just a completely different sort of lab?

Well, I think that the lab Igenics is a really good one, but it is a whole different kind of test. I guess the ELISA test or some say ELISA is just a really, just for whatever reason, it's kind of an ineffective, simple test. And the western blot test is just more spread specific. It's more, it's a little more expensive. You know, Liza, like I said, is covered under insurance. 49, 50 bucks where this would be several hundred dollars, but.

And that's what they do at this. Igenics is a western blot.

Yes. They only, yeah, they only do the western blot. And they'll test other, they'll, they'll test other things like the CD57. They'll test other levels in your blood just to, you know, see what's, what's going on and see if you have co infections. They test for co infections. And I was pretty surprised when it came back and said positive. I think I was in denial for a little bit. In fact, some days I'm just like, wow, I can't believe it. I really, after all those years, it's something everyone had heard of. We've all heard of it. We can pronounce it. It's easy to say. But there's some days still where it just kind of hits me like, wow, that was it. I just, I don't know, I was in denial for a little bit. And fortunately I have these expert doctors at my disposal. So I made like five of them read it and they're saying, well, it's pretty much. There's not any, it's black and white here. There's no gray area. You were a positive. So I had to accept it.

So for people who don't really understand, like what exactly is Lyme disease?

Well, it's, it was named after a man who discovered it in the 30s. And it's basically kind of scary thing. Some people might have seen it on Monsters and me, but it's spirochetes and these little tiny bugs, as some people will call them, that are in you, that are so microscopic, they can't necessarily be seen like In a live blood analysis test. They can hide even if you're having a blood test, but it affects every. They're very hard to get rid of. And it affects everything in your body. I guess the interesting thing about Lyme to me was I dealt with adrenal issues, thyroid, even a little bit of asthma, hard to breathe. It affects your lungs, all your organs, your central nervous system, your joints. So that is the interesting thing about Lyme is you get to learn about all those different. And that's the scary part because I thought, gosh, no, I have this. Okay, no, I have arthritis. That's what they thought for a while. And maybe rheumatoid. So, yeah, ra. Lyme is a very. These little spirochetes that are in your body that if you're bitten by a tick that they can put into your bloodstream can multiply and are very hard to detect. It's very, very hard to detect.

And I didn't even realize this until I watched this documentary, but it can be like mosquitoes and spiders and fleas and mites and doesn't just have to be ticks.

Yes. And I wasn't. Yeah, I couldn't remember in that article. It said it. But yeah, that's. And that's. I know some people are still skeptical, but I believe that. And I do happen to have like your. Just classic history, you know, the classic tick bite and everything. But yeah, that's. That's pretty much proven now. And I believe it that yes, we could even get it through a mosquito or. Yeah. So it's frightening. And they just had mainstream news recently, did some big stories about how it is. The CDC admitted it's 10 times more prevalent than previously thought. So that's really the scary part where you may have had this many people had it, but now we're talking 10 times as many. And I couldn't believe when I came out or whatever about it, how many people knew someone or had it.

Yeah, yeah. It's crazy. And the little spirochete that appears in your bloodstream, I actually have a picture of it over at. I'm going to put some show notes for those of you listening in over at BenGreenfieldFitness.com Lyme that's BenGreenfieldFitness.com L Y M E But it's quite disturbing to see this little spiral traveling through the bloodstream. And when you have this, obviously you get a little bit of chronic fatigue, you get a little brain fog, that type of thing. But can you have it? And kind of otherwise be healthy and otherwise have pretty clean blood work.

Yes. I mean my blood work was. I had gone to all sorts of specialists, just, you know, I really didn't for years, but like I said, I just got by. But it can become debilitating where there's a kind of well known coach in the Midwest who I knew and she's, I mean she was pretty famous I think with the, with college teams and things. And she's bedridden. I mean they have go fund things going on for her. But yeah, you can, some people can be asymptomatic. So, you know, that's the scary thing too. They say a lot of people have it and they're just asymptomatic. They don't even know it. But I guess that would be all right if I. And some there would be periods in my life where I think that I was able to just function and you know, I was all right. But then at different times it would get worse, which is really, you know, strange to stress or things like that. Just like any, I mean it is a disease, any disease, if you're under stress or different things and it can kind of exasperate the situation.

Yeah, I know that. Of course Dr. Mercola is very focused on like natural remedies and often unconventional techniques that you often won't see in western medicine. And I'd be curious about what kind of feedback that you got from him as you were going through this. But before that, what would be like the common conventional kind of like the western medical treatment for something like Lyme disease, Like what's currently being done about it?

Well, the good news is if someone is bitten and they had like maybe a bullseye, which would be like the red kind of traditional bullseye reaction, or they started having any symptoms, the good news is if they're not late stage, it's kind of immediate within the first few months, they say even up to a year. Until then you're not considered late stage. You can do antibiotics. And I'm not a big antibiotics fan, but they do have their place, especially for someone that is just recently infected. So that's the great news. So if like even back then this was so far back, but when I was 13, if probably if I'd done antibiotics immediately afterward, if that truly was the time I was infected, then I would have been fine. So I hear the good stories about people who, their child was bitten or something and they got the bullseye reaction, they started to get sick and they got their antibiotics and they're Fine. And even some adults and friends I know who tested pos. Oh, and they test pos. They'll do even a blood test, and boom, it shows up even sometimes in the elisa. So they get their treatment and they're done. But there's even some speculation by some western med doctors that late stage, it's hard because some don't think it exists or they'll admit that it exists, but there's no clear way. Some do antibiotics, and I don't see too many people who have success with that when they're late stage. There are some doctors who believe that you can still do that late stage. There's kind of all different schools of thought on that. And that's the hard thing. And under our skin, it talks a little bit about. You have the doctors, like my doctor is in the film, which is nice, and he will do a little bit of western medication, but mostly it's more holistic. And I think, think the way that Dr. Mercola would say too, that you're going to do more kind of a holistic approach and do herbs and a combination. But I didn't do the antibiotics. I did the herbs and then healing all those things in my body. My adrenals, which were shot, and I had really bad leaky gut. And it's a lot of. I think what they believe it is is starting with the gut. Like so many diseases, those little guys get in there and getting the gut healthy and clean and healed. Leaky gut syndrome, all that kind of stuff. A lot of extra weight, which I.

Do you think that the leaky gut syndrome and the extra weight and, you know, for example, the inflammation that you can get when you have extra fat cells and things like that. Did all that come before the Lyme disease, or are you saying that the Lyme disease has the potential to cause things like that?

I believe that. I mean, I think in another doc and doctors. I'm not a doctor. Doctors believe that it would be. Can be caused by the Lyme just because, like I said, it affects everything in your body, so including your gut, your digestion, your intestines. They get in there and you get the leaky gut. So you're not absorbing the nutrients. So I was hungry. And then you affect your adrenal glands. So my adrenals are fatigued and I'm gaining weight. My cortisol levels are climbing. I'm hungry all the time. I was hungry and eating more and more. So, yeah, it was. It's kind of a vicious cycle until I figured it out. And once I knew and got on a program that was kind of catered to me and I'm very fortunate. I know not everyone has these resources, but I did know the doctors, although there are a lot of more Lyme literate doctors now, which is good. So then I got on a program and then that finally started to change.

Now, the doc that you worked with, because this is going to be the really valuable part of our episode today, I think personally, because this is what I'm interested in, the doc that you worked with, he's in this documentary, the under your skin documentary. And his name is Dr. Klinghardt, right?

Yeah, Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt. Yeah. And he treats one of my friends who, big surprise, we met, you know, through all this. Dana Walsh, who is one of the, you know, they have a couple of people featured in the film. Not the blonde woman, but she's the brunette who was the U2 manager for the band or whatever. So she's. Yeah, she's amazing. And he. So yeah, he's. She's in it. He's in it. And yeah, he is my doctor who. Who treats me. And they're just absolutely a wonderful clinic. They're in Seattle, about as far as you can get from Florida. But I can. I have gone there and then we could. We do some things, you know, consults too, via phone. And.

Yeah, and I'm. I'm curious about the protocol itself because he actually has a. A full on Lyme treatment strategy that I know goes way beyond just antibiotics, which we've talked about those before on this podcast, can disrupt your gut flora and cause kind of a host of other issues, setting you up for more susceptibility to kind of other pathologies. But what is the treatment protocol for lyme disease that Dr. Klinghardt uses?

Well, I think it is a little dependent on the person and their situation. So the. I mean, I could, I can detail it, but I also kind of checked it by Dr. Lee Cowden, who also I'm fortunate to know, and he has the cowden formulas, which Dr. Klingart believes in. So they're both MDs. And so I kind of, I'll check things by both of them and kind of. I know it sounds a little bit crazy that I'll kind of then decide what I do from there, because the first thing I learned, even with these amazing doctors, who are some of the most knowledgeable people in the world about Lyme, is everybody's got a different thought on what they, you know, what they think you should do. And just with the Textbooks with reading what works. So I like doing some of the Cowden formulas. They're not even. It's a different company owns it, has just Dr. Lee Cowden formulated them, but he doesn't own it or anything. But I do some of those which Dr. Klinger recommends. And then there are different supplementation that he believes in, like the zeolite and chlorella and mms, which is a little controversial. So it's a. I do put it in the ebook, the Protocol that I'm on, but it gets a little complicated. I also did the DNA testing so to see if I have any genetic mutations like the mth. Mthf. So I'm on the MTHF supplement because I have the M. IT mthfr. Genetic mutations.

Oh, so hard to say that one.

I know, I know. Which is common. Yes, it is. Which is common with the limes, as I just kind of have come to call, you know, to say limes. It's just easy. Easy to pronounce. So, you know, that's because. Yeah, I guess I would say I'm a limey or overcome Lyme. But yeah, it's a pretty rigorous protocol and it'll change, you know, throughout that. It's kind of like a two year. I'm still in it because I was diagnosed under two years ago. So it'll be two years this spring. But it's kind of a two year protocol and it'll change just on. Depending on how you're doing. But pretty much it's to detoxify the body and to clean up the gut. And so, yeah, I don't know if we're allowed to talk about this on here, but he even does, you know, gets into doing enemas, even mms. Enemas, not ms, but people can look up. Up mms. I should know.

We're all about enemas here.

Okay. Yes. Because the leaves. You've got to get in there and get that gut cleaned. And I see. You know, and get them out of the. Get them out of the gut because they kind of will harbor there those spirochetes. So I know that can be a little controversial, but I definitely see it seems better. I don't want to say it's luck, but you know, the people are doing. Patients are doing much better than some of the folks I know who just are doing conventional antibiotics when they've had it for, you know, 18 years or something though, don't. You know, I don't judge the people who do that. And you know, I know everyone has to make their own decision what kind of route they're going to take with healing. Or maybe they do both, you know, do. They'll do antibiotics and they would do. And some will do like the PICC line have it going right into their bloodstream. So, yeah, it can be pretty hardcore, but I've stuck with more of natural remedies. And yeah, I list them all in the E book. But some of them are herbs that help kill the parasites too, like the Banderil and Cemento. I do a natural herb.

How are you pronouncing those herbs? I just want to make sure people get a chance to write down some of this stuff as we're going through it. So which herbs did you just mention?

The two that are kind of my staple. The ones that I really like are it's banderal, B A N D E R O L and Cemento, which some people will know from using if they come back from India or somewhere and they feel they might have a parasite. That's something Cemento is used for. S A M like Mary E N T O. And there is. There's another Lyme doc I know in Seattle. Like I said, I'm fortunate to know these people. And so there's. They seem to be a concentration of them up there. And those are two that he really likes. And you can get them by different companies. I get them through Nutramedics. I have no affiliation with them. They do give me a wholesale, which is sweet, but that's. Yeah. So those are kind of the two staple ones that I really like. And then for me, another thing I think that really helped with healing the adrenals was Ashwagandha. It's an Indian herb that I take in capsule form and it's from organic India. There's many brands. I'm sure they're all effective and it was really helpful with giving me more energy and I think helping with the adrenals. It gave you energy, yet it kind of helped calm you at the same time. So, yeah, that was. Ashwagandha was another one that I still do and I'll cycle on and off, which they kind of recommend with some of these because your body can get used to them after so long to do a little cycling on and off. But Ashwagandha was very helpful and I think that was what I. I really saw with that and diet changes that I thought I could have a little bit of organic grains or things that I kind of gave up and cut back on sugar, which would feed like it can feed lots of things, even natural sugar, you know, and initially cut back on fruit and things like that. But yeah, between that, the diet and supplementation, it really, really made a difference for me. Hey, quick break here. This is Jessa Greenfield, Ben's box. I mean, wife. I'm not sure if you know this, but Ben, being the complete nerd that he is, keeps track of everything he's ever recommended and found to work really well and puts it all over at greenfield fitness systems.com from books to lab tests to supplements, he has it all there. So whether you want to build muscle, burn fat, fix your gut, sleep, better balance hormones, learn about smart drugs, whatever, it's all there. Check it out@GreenfieldFitnessSystems.com okay, now back to the podcast.

Now, if I could kind of rapid fire a few questions at you. One of the things I've heard happens with Lyme disease is that you have difficulty sleeping or insomnia. Did you take anything to manage that?

I still get that. And I've had that, I want to say lifelong, but probably since my teens. So I try melatonin, but one of the. And I do like melatonin, but one of the things is for me, and I've seen melatonin can tend to cause a little dry eye, so I just have to cut back a little. But yeah, it really. From other limeys who I know, and many now the insomnia and sleeping issues really seem to affect us. And so I did things like wear well, actually they're really cheap. And I would wear the little. They look funny walking around the house at night, but after the sun goes down, I would wear the. They're kind of like blue blockers, like if you remember those old school commercials. But they're yellow.

I mean, they're yellow like an amber lens.

Yeah. And you can get Those for like 8, 9 bucks on Amazon. And I give, I have like Amazon links on the site to stuff, but I don't sell any of it. I just, people wanted more and more people wanted these links to all the stuff that I had. So I wear the glasses in the evening and that will kind of help because otherwise we're exposed to so much blue light and the computer screens at night. And I think that doesn't help either. Just with so many people having even, what do they say? A third of the nation has trouble sleeping or insomnia, and they might not have Lyme.

So you're just basically following a lot of kind of the normal sleep hygiene type of things and then throwing in a few of the common Herbs that you'd normally use for something like sleep.

Yeah, I didn't want. There were times before the Lyme was diagnosed where doctors, not the doctors I've been speaking of, but just like conventional doctors would say, okay, you need to take this sleeping medication. And I just didn't want to. I wasn't going to do that and get hooked on sleep meds or anything like that. But, yeah, if I really do, you know, I'll work at doing like a meditation in the evening, wearing the. I think it's good for everybody to wear the glasses if it bothers a person that the bright lights at night and seeking to stay off the computer, which is difficult, but, you know, all those things. But the joke is, my joke is with some of the limeys and doctors, I say that why we get so much energy at night is the. I said the bugs have to rest, right? These little spirochetes. So they have to rest at some point so they go to sleep. And that's why then our body feels great and better and we get all this energy. I don't know if that's really true. One doctor said, yeah, that could be. Hey. Because they're not sure why we almost become like, I feel like I could do. And once in a while, if I can't sleep, I'll do a little workout at night because it seems like so many. I know. Get that extra energy and feel better in the evening.

Interesting. Okay, so another question for you is regarding CO infections. I've heard that you can get other infections along with Lyme disease. Bartonella, I think is how you pronounce it. Another CO infection that kind of goes hand in hand with Lyme disease. Is that something that you experienced? And if so, have you found any useful remedies for something like that? Or does doctor get him butcher his name, Klingheart's protocol address that at all?

Yes, they do test for the CO infections and mine did show as negative. But a lot of times, you know, like they said, I was kind of lucky to get the positive on the Lyme. I'm like, well, I don't know if that's lucky, but because they don't always show up. So there's a lot of the B ones, the Babesia, Bartonella. So the Bartonella, a lot of times they'll say, like the cat scratch fever, I think, you know, they'll call it that. That someone could even have a CO infection and not have Lyme, which is interesting. So even though I didn't test positive for those and the Blood work that they did that that's a little harder that it's, you know, where it's black and white on those. So I think within the treatment, we've kind of got Babesia. We're not sure. We just kind of have to. It sounds sad, but kind of have to guess with the symptoms that I would have if I think I have Babesia. So I haven't done. That's kind of Next where they wanted to do a natural herbal protocol for that. You can do a drug that they take for malaria. I think the drug starts with an M. And that scared me so much. Taking some malaria drug like that people will take in parts of Africa and things daily. And it was. I didn't mind. It was expensive, which I didn't like. But I thought, okay, if it helps me, I'd pay for it and insurance won't cover it. But I decided to go with the herbs instead. So we're going to do it treatment, herbal treatment for Babesia. But I'm not even sure that I have that co infection. So, yeah, some of it is just a little bit of a guessing, a guessing game. But yes, any Lyme literate medical doctor would have, you know, treatments that they would have formulated for those, you know, for those co infections or things they might recommend. And it might just, I think with a general, you know, your general protocol, it's going to help those as well.

Yeah, got it. Now, how about toxins? I'm guessing that there are a multitude of toxins that are circulating in your bloodstream. When you have something like this Lyme disease or infection, do you take specific remedies to address either neurological toxins or any other toxins that are kind of floating around in your system?

Yes, I think that I kind of keep it simple. Like I know some people get, you know, have just. I don't even know if they could. It would take pages to write all the things down that they do or they cycle through. But I do believe that the banderole and cemento can help as well as the. Oh, gosh, now the name just escaped me and I have the notes in front of me and I take it every day. Sometimes I get those. And you wonder if it's a lime, what causes that? Where I is the name. But zeolites. So zeolites are going to bring down your. If you have toxins like the mercury. So they're going to bring that down because a lot of times you'll have high. Which I did, big surprise. Had high mercury levels as a limey when they tested those. So the zeolite supplement would help that as well as well as a clean diet. I really do well to do my best to eat, you know, very clean, organic, non gmo, you know, even local or we grow some of our own food, you know, local, locally grown stuff. Because I think eating just talksjust the toxic load with our, with our foods already what we're dealing with. But I try to eat really clean too, which makes a difference. And then yes, some of the supplementations could help that, help that too. And I have to do retest my mercury levels. It seems I'm always retesting something so that's, that's another one I gotta do.

Do you ever fully get rid of Lyme or is it something that you just basically manage for the rest of your life?

There are different schools of thought on that as well. And I know people, you know, I hear people and understandably people don't always know the full story on Lyme. So if somebody say, you know, my cousin or sister had that and no, she just did this for a week and she was all better. Now maybe she'd just been bitten by a tick or mosquito or something but usually it's not that quick. They say like a two year protocol. And what one of my Lyme docs said is that you're 80% better from different literature I've read or the best information I can get are from other Lyme patients or people who been tested positive and they feel that some of them just get to the point where they're good enough just to keep managing things and little things will creep back up but they, they keep on top of it and it's something that they do manage. Others say that they are, you know like a hundred percent cured and they are Lyme free and they had a negative blood test which could be possible if they really were negative or even if they weren't. So I kind of look at it as I don't know yet, I don't know yet for me, but I know there, there's kind of split school of thought on that. Some think that there's completely better, while other Lyme doctors would say that you're 80% better and you just kind of manage things to make sure that, you know, you might, you don't get sick again or any symptoms that might come up.

So Dr. Klinghardt's protocol has all these different herbs and cocktails that address a lot of the co infections and the parasites, bacteria and viruses that can accompany this infection. But it sounds like he also has some other factors that he takes into account. External factors or emotional factors, things like EMF or radiation. I know he does some stuff with eft, the Emotional Freedom technique. Did you go through any of that or do you use any of these other steps of his protocol as far as lifestyle and environmental factors?

Yes, definitely. I have done the EFT and had some success with that.

Now, is that, Is that just like the tapping that.

Is that is the tapping, yeah. Or like I was saying, I kind of do the meditation and sometimes I'll incorporate the EFT into that. And so I'm. I'm a believer in that and that that can kind of help because it's kind of a mind body thing here. Like any. Anything you're dealing with, it's. It's kind of that there's a big. For me, especially mind body connection. And then with the EMFs, I haven't been as diligent. But one thing we refuse. I mean, we go pretty far. We refuse the smart meter and have to pay extra. So we don't have, you know, have the smart. Meet smart meters where that's, you know, where your electricity comes from in the house. Because Dr. Klingart does a whole video that can be found online for free on YouTube. It's like an hour long about electromagnetic frequencies. And the smart meter is one that he really thinks kind of makes your house a microwave. So not to frighten anyone out there, that's a whole different thing. But he's also in a film called Take Back youk Power. Power about that. And it just. They control and see, you know, it gets a little. It can get a little conspiracy theory sounding, but I just don't have one. Just in case.

I actually like. I have an EMF meter. I just use a little one called a Lapka. It also measures like the nitrates in fruits and vegetables and it measures like humidity and temperature and radiation and stuff like that. But I used to live in just a normal little ranch home and I would walk around there with my emf, EMF meter and it would register enormous amounts in each room. And then I built a home. And it's a really kind of like, it's a stupid home out in the forest, you know, without a lot of electricity and WI fi and stuff like that. And the EMF registers at almost zero in every room. And I feel way, way better. So I know there's something to it.

Oh, yeah, no, we have EMF meters for, you know, for measure and the Geiger meter for, you know, so we have. We have all those, but this, I meant like the meter for your power. You know how you have the smart meter outside. Yeah, right, the smart meter. So we, we declined the smart meter and had to pay, you know, like 100 something dollars just off the bat and then so much per month not to have a smart meter on the house. So he doesn't like those. But yeah, the EMF meters are good to measure the EMFs. And yeah, that's good. I did see your video of your family, which was lovely. It was awesome. And yeah, it looks like you guys are in a good spot. But like, we would pay extra not to have that, that smart meter. Does it make a big difference? You know, I don't know. The other thing is we're building a Faraday cage, so it goes around. I know it sounds a little crazy, it looks like this pretty little canopy, but. And I'm not even sure exactly how the technology works, but this particular one deflects the emf. So at night when you're sleeping, you know, people just think it's a pretty canopy around the bed. And especially if you have like a four poster bed or you don't have to and you can just move it aside and you put that around you. And if you have on a second floor with your bedroom, you can just put this thing under the bed. And if you're on first floor, then you don't need that. And that would protect you from the emfs. Because, yes, I do feel that I am more sensitive just in general, and maybe that was because of the Lyme. But yeah, just with having the wireless on and we turn it off at night and things like that, which I highly recommend anyone do, whether they have any health challenges or not, just to turn that wireless off, maybe hook it up to that power strip or whatever to a switch where you could just switch it off when you go to sleep, which is something he recommends. Cordless phones, we don't have any anymore, which can become a pain because we miss having that cordless phone. But Dr. Klingart says if you do have one, to turn it off at night. The base. It's the base that's the issue. And he says that can be as bad as like wireless Internet. So cell phones, you know, I seek to use those less and to keep those off at night and, you know, make sure they're just completely turned off. Turn off the wireless. You know, some people, even with, with Lyme or without Lyme, that are some of his patients or he recommends to turn, go out and you know, out to the fuse box. Now I'm forgetting that name. But the thing and just turn off, you know, just turn off the switches like, or at least to the bedroom.

Yeah, what I have is just like a kill switch. I had a kill switch installed in each of the bedrooms. So you just hit that when you go into the bedroom and it kind of shuts off everything.

Oh.

Can be annoying when you got to get up at night, but it's there really interesting. Now, of course, all of the resources that we've talked about are over in the show notes, so you can, you can get to them over at Ben. BenGreenfieldFitness.com Lyme that's BenGreenfieldFitness.com L Y M E Aaron, as far as your book that you wrote this free ebook that you've got called in the Limelight, is there anything else in that book that you wanted to talk about in the podcast as far as bringing to people's attention when it comes to Lyme disease or any other remedies that you've found to be really especially useful?

I guess the only, the other one was because I know you're so into fitness and that's been a passion of mine for a long time is I just, I talk a little bit in there about how I well, yeah, this isn't, this just, just came up as I'm saying it. I'm, I was doing more high intensity workouts and actually gaining weight and really creeping up. I mean I'm five, nine and a half but like creeping up to a size 1010 and I'm working out doing, you know, high intensity 1012 and now I'm like a size four. So obviously, you know, I made it was in 90 days that the weight came off. But for me and people with especially women out there, but there are men too who have adrenal fatigue. I think that high intensity can be wonderful. But for some folks, if they've got severe adrenal fatigue and high cortisol levels, what one thing it says in the book is that they may want to slow. So besides all the protocol that I did and initially I did a little bit of Diflucan and Nystatin to kind of clean out any yeast fungus in the body, all that and help heal the gut. But that was really about it on medications. But besides all that for me switching to a Pilates and yoga and I'm not sure what your thoughts are on those. I don't know your thoughts thoughts really professional thoughts on fitness. But that really helped Me slowing down, meditation, even going back to beginners yoga.

Which was especially for people who have chronic fatigue or people who have adrenal fatigue or over training. I'll put people through a 4 to 12 week, what I call adrenal fatigue protocol. And a big, big part of that protocol is tai chi and yoga.

Yes, yes. So that within those 12. What was it? Yeah, 12 weeks of switching, and I still just kind of incorporate Pilates, but I'm doing a little bit of some lifting now, but not like I used to, but in yet. But yeah, that really made a difference for me, doing the yoga, Pilates, kind of like you said, probably like a routine like you have for your clients. I think that made a big. I know it made a big difference for me. And I saw the weight come off as opposed to running and running, doing more cardio, high intensity and gaining, you know, a couple pounds a week. And I saw that kind of just like it was going to continue to climb if I didn't do something. So I'd say that. And I know raw foods is a huge thing. I did raw foods retreats for a number of years on the beach here and Palm coast, but. And still occasionally do them. But I think for me also when you have that leaky gut you've got. For me, I had to do a little more, you know, steamed vegetables, a little cooked veggies, things that are a little more easy on the stomach. So I actually cut back a little on the raw foods. Even though that might not be the hip thing to do, it definitely help my gut. So just little tips like that that I. That come to mind.

Yeah, yeah. Believe it or not, vegetables can be hard to digest in many cases, especially if you have a leaky gut. I've gotten to the point now where I found I have the best digestion of my vegetable vegetables. When I heat them a little bit, I steam them and I do all of that prior to blending them and putting them in like a smoothie. And I'll do a huge batch of vegetables in the morning, and it's just super duper digestible. And if I'm in a big, big hurry, I don't heat them and I don't steep them, and I can tell the difference. It takes a little bit longer to digest and you feel like you're not working through it quite as smooth. And I know some people would argue that. That the human body should be able to operate without the assistance of cooking and steaming and boiling, but I would beg to differ. I think we actually do have to go out of our way sometimes to prepare plants correctly, especially if we have compromised guts.

Yeah, I agree. Wow, that's really. Yeah, I like that. I guess I'd heard that once before with the. For when you're going to like juice or blend them. But I like that to kind of heat them before. I might take that advice and do that because I don't. I'll still do some juicing, but that's just raw.

Well, it doesn't take long, right? I mean, you just basically you take the handful of whatever vegetables and you just lightly steam them over the stovetop as you prepare. You know, you take out anything else that you plan on throwing in there and then, you know, the vegetables are ready in five minutes, literally and you just toss them in the blender along with everything else. So.

Yeah, yeah. Very, very smart.

You did Pilates and yoga to manage the weight. Anything else that you found to be really effective?

I would say just really well. I was still eating more grains in my diet and I don't want to jump on the bandwagon where everybody's doing the low carb or at least low grain, but it really made a difference. I wasn't sold on that. I thought, well, I can have if it's da da da organic stone ground this or that. But wheat, but I'll have a little bit of quinoa or something. But honestly, I cut out wheat and most grains from my diet, so that made a big difference. I don't think people have to go just grainless or whatever. They could just maybe if they felt they were having especially leaky gut issues, they could cut back. I think that could be helpful. I also didn't. Another thing I was doing before was just eating a lot of gluten. Oh, all this stuff, but it's gluten free. But it's. Was these crackers or this bread or you know, all this stuff. And I even cut back on that too. I know. Just because it doesn't have the gluten. I'm not sure. I mean, I'm so. I mean, I think it can help to eat the gluten free. But I even cut back on the gluten free, you know, foods that I was eating and just try to eat more whole foods, more, you know, just fruits, vegetables, not anything processed. Even organic local bakery bread and all that kind of stuff. Stuff, it's still processed. And I guess the only other thing too you said that I would hope someone if they would read the book or take away from it. I wasn't Very sympathetic. Even though I'd had my own health challenges, but I always got better. I always overcame it. Maybe I was young and still was working out. And I guess it's just if someone has a family member or friend, if they haven't been through a health challenge until you really have. And just the last few years before I was diagnosed was when I was at my worst with just real physical pain and really bad fatigue, leaky gut, all that joint pain. I'm thinking, what is wrong with me? So I think I wasn't sympathetic until the last maybe three, four, five years because I think, is this all in someone's head or what's their problem? I admit that I was judgmental and I feel that wasn't cool. Sorry. I never thought you were emotional on podcast, but it was. Yeah. I realize now after being through it personally and helping other people that, you know, it's not all in their head. And so if someone has a family member, I hope that they would, you know, just. Just realize that maybe they haven't been through that, but it is real. Even if the person doesn't have Lyme, if they have lupus or chronic fatigue, that it's not all in their head and you know, that. That they might just try to have a little more empathy and realize even though they haven't been through it, that person is what they're feeling is real.

Yeah. Yeah. And of course, feel free to use this page if you're listening in, as a resource. Everything that Aaron and I just talked about from Aaron's ebook and that's free, right. For people to use to the the documentary under your skin to Dr. Clinginghearts. I'll get it towards the end of the podcast. Cling hearts, not clinging hearts clinging full like natural Lyme disease protocol. I'll put links to all this stuff over at BenGreenfieldFitness.com Lime L Y M E so check that out. And Erin, thanks so much for coming on the call today and sharing this with folks.

Thank you, Ben. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for having me. Me.

All right, well folks, thanks for listening in and you can check all this out again at BenGreenfieldFitness.com Lime have a healthy week and I'll talk to you soon.

Visit BenGreenfieldFitness.com for even more cutting edge fitness, nutrition and performance advice.

Sa.