How To Prevent Blood Clots And Edema On Your Next Flight [Episode #18]

Have you ever experienced swollen ankles when flying in an airplane?  How about trouble fitting your shoes on your feet from time to time?  Have your socks ever left an indentation in your lower leg that just seems to linger?  Do you just know you’re carrying extra water weight? Sometimes these things happen due to natural hormone cycles or a bout of less than stellar nutritional choices.  Sometimes adding some high-quality protein into the diet is just the trick you need to put an end to the puffiness.  But sometimes these little inconveniences—these minor discomforts—are your body’s way of signaling that there is a much more serious problem at hand.  If we’re talking about a serious, medical edema, chances are we are talking about (A) the heart, wherein the heart isn’t pumping fluid strongly enough to overcome the force of gravity to get the fluid back to the upper part of the body, resulting in swelling in the lower parts, i.e. the legs and feet, or (B) the kidneys, where the body is simply not getting rid of excess fluids.  Now it goes without saying that if you find yourself in a crisis situation, you need to submit to crisis medical care.  But that does not mean that you shouldn’t also address the reason for the crisis and work on healing that underlying problem.  So let’s talk about the heart.  The heart is the first organ in the body to suffer from malnutrition, which is why we are seeing more and more heart conditions in younger and younger people.  However, the really amazing thing about the heart is that it is also very quick to respond to good nutrition.  We have demonstrated this with patients by listening to their heart sounds with the endocardiograph, providing them with high-quality nutritional supplements, and then after a matter of minutes, listening to the heart once again.  The difference is astounding! See the picture below of a before and after. As I mentioned, another cause of medical edema can be kidney dysfunction.  Specifically, disease or damage can cause an accumulation of fluid in the lower legs and feet.  And again, rather than the diuretic medications created to force the kidneys to get rid of excess fluid waste, we choose to feed the kidneys with high-quality nutritional supplements.  And this topic just wouldn’t be complete without a little nod to everyone’s favorite organ, the liver.  Everything we eat comes through the liver in digested form before entering the bloodstream—the same bloodstream that supplies both your heart and kidneys.  Your liver throws itself on a toxic grenade for you every day to keep you alive and it can get tired.  We have a PLAN for that too!  So follow your doctor’s advice.  Take the medications he prescribes.  But don’t simply cover up the symptoms of a larger problem.  Address the reason for the problem.  And when that problem subsides, return to your doctor for reevaluation and work to wean off of the medications.  A good doctor will be happy to see your progress, and you can rest better at night knowing you’ve listened to that “forbidden doctor” inside you that knows the way to restore and rebuild. Download A Transcript Of This Episode: Click Here