The Root of the Matter

Beyond the Surface: Connecting Dental and Whole-Body Health with Dr. Scott Vzal

• Dr. Rachaele Carver, D.M.D. Board-Certified, Biologic, Naturopathic Dentist • Season 3 • Episode 8

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Pain is not merely a nuisance to be silenced—it's your body's sophisticated alarm system calling for attention. In this illuminating conversation with Dr. Scott J. Vrzal, we uncover how the location of your headaches serves as a roadmap to understanding deeper health imbalances throughout your body.

Dr. Vrzal, a chiropractor specializing in applied kinesiology, shares his groundbreaking approach to decoding seven distinct headache patterns and their connections to specific organ systems. Did you know that a right-sided headache typically indicates gallbladder dysfunction, while temple pain often relates to hormonal imbalances? These connections, featured in his new book "The Headache Advantage," offer powerful insights for anyone seeking relief beyond medication.

Our discussion ventures into surprising territory, revealing how TMJ issues often originate not in the jaw itself but from pelvic misalignment caused by chronic adrenal stress. We explore the counterintuitive truth that most acid reflux stems from too little stomach acid rather than too much, and how wheat consumption—particularly due to glyphosate contamination—compromises gallbladder function and triggers widespread inflammation.

Perhaps most valuable is Dr. Vrzal practical wisdom about using proteolytic enzymes as powerful natural anti-inflammatories that can dramatically accelerate healing after dental procedures or surgery. This approach not only addresses pain but supports your body's inherent healing mechanisms without blocking crucial liver pathways needed for recovery.

Whether you're dealing with persistent headaches, unexplained pain, or simply want to understand your body's signals more clearly, this episode offers a transformative perspective on health. As Dr. Vrzal reminds us, "Pain is intended to elicit change." By learning the language your body speaks, you gain the advantage of addressing root causes rather than merely silencing symptoms. Subscribe now to join us on this journey toward understanding the profound intelligence of your body's communication system.

Find out more about Dr. Vral, check out his website: https://www.drvrzal.com/

Get your copy of "The Headache Advantage"

To learn more about holistic dentistry, check out Dr. Carver's website:

http://carverfamilydentistry.com

To contact Dr. Carver directly, email her at drcarver@carverfamilydentistry.com

Want to talk with someone at Dr. Carver's office?  Call her practice: 413-663-7372

Reverse Gum Disease In 6 Weeks! With Dr. Rachaele Carver Online Course!

Learn more about here: https://reversegumdiseaseinsixweeks.info/optinpage




Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. Information discussed is not intended for diagnosis, curing, or prevention of any disease and is not intended to replace advice given by a licensed healthcare practitioner. Before using any products mentioned or attempting methods discussed, please speak with a licensed healthcare provider. This podcast disclaims responsibility from any possible adverse reactions associated with products or methods discussed. Opinions from guests are their own, and this podcast does not condone or endorse opinions made by guests. We do not provide guarantees about the guests' qualifications or credibility. This podcast and its guests may have direct or indirect financial interests associated with products mentioned.

Speaker 1:

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Root of the Matter. I am your host, dr Rachel Carver, today. We are happy to have Dr Scott Rizal with us today, dr V and a doctor of chiropractic, doctor of applied kinesiology, amongst some other things. Maybe he talks a lot about the mind-body connection. He has a great new book about headaches which I'm really excited to dive into this topic. So maybe Scott just jump right in and let us know, like, what brought you to chiropractic care in the first place?

Speaker 2:

I started young with the pursuit of health and wellness. I realized early on I was diagnosed hypoglycemic. I was starting to work out in the gym at that time, but diagnosed hypoglycemic after I passed out at a large event with a lot of people around, so I quit eating sugar. At 14, when I realized the consequences of that, which is a lot of your dental listeners are going to celebrate right, I wish I could bottle that so everybody else could say, hey, take this pill and you'll never want sugar again.

Speaker 2:

That was a big change for me. So as I started modifying my diet and realizing how what I ate made a difference, I just got more and more obsessed about it. And then I had my first chiropractic experience. That really four headaches. My headaches at that time were a headband, whole head type of a headache that I now understand was a colon issue, but I got adjusted for that and that kind of rocked my world. I felt of a headache that I now understand was a colon issue, but I got adjusted for that and that kind of rocked my world. I felt completely different and empowered and I just I'm like I want this for me and I want it for everybody else. At that point I had done a self-interest test, trying to find my way as a young lad, and chiropractic was actually one of my highest scores because of my interest in physical health and nutritional health, and so, as I dove in, it was, far and away for sure, my mission.

Speaker 1:

I think it's interesting how we tend to think of chiropractors as people who focus on the back, but in all my studies and really into the whole cell core, which was first two chiropractors who formed that company that really chiropractors are formed, that company, that really chiropractors so whole body health, you know, is that that part of every chiropractor's training, that you're learning more how everything is interacting?

Speaker 2:

We're all a composite of our experiences, our life experiences, right. And so, yes, chiropractic is the structure, function, foundation and within that there's many avenues and directions that it can go. I personally took on a position to bring on the leaders in the profession during chiropractic college with the intent of figuring out who was the most effective and most efficient, and ultimately that led me to several techniques. But applied kinesiology was the approach. Dr George Goodhart and he talked to a lot of dentists as well with his teaching, the late great Dr Goodhart we lost him a few years ago so he brought in the muscle-organ correlation which brings in acupuncture and nutrition and emotional work, puts it all together with the structural function. And it's applied kinesiology because it's the study of movement. And so every muscle he deemed had organ associations, and most of those are, because acupuncture meridians go right through there, much like the teeth.

Speaker 2:

So then, if the person is having trouble raising their shoulder, we look at the prime movers or the muscles that are going to initiate that activity. We realize, if your deltoid is not functioning right, we need to look at your lungs, or your supraspinatus is not initiating the movement, we need to look at brain function or brain chemistry for you, and so it gives me a very profound tool that makes it very simple to just point to where it hurts, or show me what you can't do, and I can tell you what the organ association is. And then we look at is that organ weak because of a structural problem, chiropractic, pt, that sort of stuff chemical problem, meaning something they're eating or something they're exposed to, or is it a non-emotional problem? And so organs all have specific emotions associated with them as well. But it gives me a tool to prioritize and figure out where a person needs help, and, and that's ultimately how I was able to identify the set or whittle it down to seven specific patterns of head pain, for example.

Speaker 1:

This is really exciting. So, those of you who've been watching my podcast for a while, we've talked about muscle testing before. It's absolutely fascinating, right, greg? And most of the time we have an ache or a pain, right? We take some ibuprofen and you know whatever. Yeah, well, I'm getting older, older, I'm supposed to have arthritis, but, and then we go to our conventional mds, right, and then give steroids or other stronger anti-inflammatories without actually looking at what's the root. I patient, when I'm seeing arthritis, I'm thinking some kind of inflammation, right, and I put a lot of digestive enzymes going. Wow, huh, my, wow, my joints feel better. Yeah, a lot of times you're not digesting well, but again, certain areas of the body. So when we can understand the foundation, the root, right, hence my podcast Then we can say okay, like you said, the headband that was related to the colon. What can we do to ensure that the colon is happy and healthy?

Speaker 1:

I know I have this one tooth that bothers me every so often. There's no infection, but that's on my large intestine meridian. So then, starting my intestines, I'm like well, you know, it's wintertime, it's getting drier. I need to make sure I have good hydration, good fiber, getting my electrolytes, making sure I'm having good bowel movements and, lo and behold, the tooth gets better. So I think sometimes, doing conventional medicine and dentistry, we just dive right in oh, there must be something wrong with the tooth, let me drill it out and do all this, and then how are you making a bigger problem? Right Now we're putting in, you know, using all these chemicals and all these things, and that's not really where the pain is coming from. So the whole idea about hemorrhidin is that everything is connected to something else.

Speaker 1:

So we really somebody like you like me, we're sinking a little deeper right. What's the what's going on?

Speaker 2:

Yes, and he covered a lot of wonderful material there already. I'd love to lean into the enzyme issue a little bit and maybe shine some light in a slightly different way on the enzymes. 100% enzymes are necessary to help facilitate digestion. Potentially less known tool or way to use enzymes is a natural anti-inflammatory. So if a person's having that dental surgery, having surgery, the protocol is to first let's shine light on the fact that enzymes with food help us digest the food and the protein of the food. If we take them away from food or away from protein, then they digest the inflammation and the protein of the breakdown. So we take them away from food and they're a natural anti-inflammatory. They facilitate collagen healing so that the fibers will line up properly instead of being the mishmash that creates the scarring, and they also help facilitate clotting. So if somebody had gotten to the end of their rope for alternative medicine, nothing else has worked. Now we have to pull the tooth, so to speak. Then you notice I'm reversing the alternative medicine. Take the proteolytic enzymes good, high protein and cell core has great ones. We take that proteolytic enzyme typically about one or two, three times a day the day before and then my protocol is typically as soon as you wake up from the surgery or as soon as you're done with the surgery, you start popping one to two per waking hour away from food, typically for about two weeks, and so that will drastically facilitate the healing process, and there's countless studies that show that it literally cuts the healing time in half. So, people, and typically right about that two-week mark when, if you're taking too much, you'll get that burning, that epigastric, that burning right at the bottom of the sternum, means okay, we're pushing the enzymes a little too hard, and that would be the time that's usually right about two weeks. Then that would be the time to start backing down the enzymes a little too hard, and that would be the time and that's usually right about two weeks. Then that would be the time to start backing down the enzymes to maybe two to three times a day as the inflammation comes down, as the healing process has completed. So that's a real nice tool for this type of audience and especially for the dentists and orthopedic surgeons I've shared this with and every patient I've had that does this protocol and then goes back to their doctor.

Speaker 2:

What are you doing? How'd this happen? How does it get better so fast? And the reality is it works so well that most of the time people don't even need pain medications. And when we look at anti-inflammatories and pain medications, most of them inhibit the sulfation pathway in the liver and think what do we need to heal and recover? Is that chondroitin sulfate right? If you have chronic joint pain, people are taking chondroitin sulfate or glucosamine sulfate. We have sulfur. Those are all sulfur-based regenerative tissues and that pathway in the liver gets shut down by anti-inflammatories and pain medications. So if we can use proteolytic enzymes, that facilitates that healing process and that's a lot of how we can minimize scar tissue. And literally, if you realize oops, it's been a couple hours you start getting that throbbing, pulsing pain around the area wherever you had the surgery. Typically take the enzymes away from food and usually within 10 to 15 minutes the pain goes out. It's like okay, there's peace in the world again.

Speaker 1:

Awesome and kind of taught me something new about how using the enzymes after surgery. But you make such an important point and when I'm doing extremes or minimal surgeries, we are using ozone and laser and red light and Arnica. Like, I totally agree with that. When we take any kind of NSAID ibuprofen, tylenol you have to process that through the liver, the liver. 9% of us is completely overworked these days because we are bombarded with talk. There are children today who have fatty liver disease.

Speaker 1:

It is just it's interesting that you say that, right, you stop the liver from being able to do all of its healing processes. So you know, before my patient, the numbness even wears up, I'm popping Arnica and I have them take that twice a day for five days. I was just saying this to a consult earlier today. I can't remember the last time I had to give somebody ibuprofen, let alone an opioid, because all of these different therapies are enhancing the body's way of healing versus these kind of drugs, which are necessary Absolutely Sometimes we need that. Versus these kind of drugs which are necessary Absolutely Sometimes we need that.

Speaker 1:

If we can prepare the body properly and keep stimulating its way to heal, you do so much better. It's amazing. So enzymes, that's a good tip. I may add that to my little little protocol, because that's what we're doing when we're taking out teeth we want to encourage the collagen and everything to grow in that bone to fill in more quickly. So yeah, that's super exciting. So why don't you talk to us a little bit about your new book and talk to us about headaches? We have a lot of patients who come to us and think it's joint related or clenching or whatever it is. So I'm really fascinated to learn about how the different areas of the headaches are connected to different areas of the body.

Speaker 2:

For sure we can go all day. So, yes, we can talk about headaches. We can lean into the TMJ aspirin kinesiologic perspectives on TMJ as well. Yes, ultimately I whittled it down to seven different patterns of headaches and the reason the book is called the Headache Advantage is for me, clinically, the advantage of the location of head pain is it really tells me the priority or the primary weakness for that person. And so they may have a list of dental problems and digestive issues and hormonal issues and we go through that whole list and the location of that headache tells me this is where we need to start. So typically, if they have a whole head headache, as we talked about, potentially for your daughter or some of those whole head headache, I know we need to work on. The colon is your primary weakness, if you will. So we need to look at what it's going to take to heal and facilitate the colon. So those seven patterns are on the right side of headache is a gallbladder problem and right side headache is gallbladder. Left side of headache is a stomach concern.

Speaker 2:

Frontal headache you can picture the person's hand on the front of the head. That's production of cortisol, basically stress inhibiting digestive function. So in other words, think ulcer. That's the frontal headache. So those are very common with us go-getters. And then we've got the bi-temporal headache. That's typically estrogen metabolism. So temporal pain around the ears on both sides, that's going to be your hormonal headaches, ladies. And then the back of the head headache is thyroid concern. That also comes back to enzymes often because part of the way the thyroid activates metabolism is to activate digestive enzymes. That's part of how it stimulates metabolism. So when that process is compromised that'll set up the tension headaches in the back. And then the other one is what I call the cyclops headache, or the third eye type of a headache, and that's typically a pituitary dysfunction. I think I covered all seven right One, two, three, four, five, six. Did I miss one Whole head, the?

Speaker 1:

temples. I think you did yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think I covered all seven.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so fascinating. Because again we're just like, oh, just take your Tylenol and you'll be fine. Okay, maybe it's like a Band-Aid, right. It's just the thing about most conventional pharmaceuticals is that they suppress your symptoms, right, and that can create, you know, make the problem deeper and deeper and deeper, which means it's harder and harder to uproot the cause.

Speaker 1:

I remember my daughter. She got a small little scrape on her leg and she started picking at it and ended up getting a staph infection and I was like, no, it's fine. But it started to get bigger and I thought if I took her to the er, they're just going to give her antibiotics and steroid and I really don't want to push the infection deeper. So, you know, I was like, all right, let me get out all my tools and I got the ozonated olive oil, I used ozone gas, I used a binder on it and, yes, it took longer. It took 10 days for it to go where. With antibiotics maybe it would have been gone in two, but she healed and I felt better that I didn't suppress, you strengthened her body instead of crushing it, instead of inhibiting its natural function.

Speaker 2:

As a sidebar, oregano is the typical herb that I would jump to for staff. It tends to be a nice drying herb and facilitates healing and sulfation and gut biome. So just for future reference.

Speaker 1:

Yes, oh, that's fabulous. She's had a couple of skin issues there. So these little tidbits because a lot of people are listening to this are looking for more of the naturals or more of ways to stimulate the body to heal. So all of these, we've already gotten such a handful of good tips already, so this is exciting. So tell me your perspective on TMJ and what you know. There's a lot of thought that a lot of it is emotional, right, let me just say it's in your head and just de-stress.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so de-stress is part of it. If it's bilateral TMJ or another jaw problems on both sides, think of the jaw as basically a free-hanging structure, right, and so it's supported by muscles, and so ultimately in kinesiology we look at the foundation. That foundation is the pelvis. So if we build our house on the rock and we have a solid foundation in the pelvis, then the jaw hangs properly. Typically stress the chronic cortisol. Ultimately it ends up being adrenal insufficiency or stage three or crashed adrenals. That causes a posterior ilium, in other words a rotation of the pelvis. So then we're basically the foundation is now crooked or on the sand and the jaw will get tense and we end up tension in the masseters and the pterygoids and that sort of stuff. And so people work locally here, try to change the bite without correcting the foundation, and so then we're correcting the bite into pathology, unfortunately. So we want to correct the foundation, help them handle stress. Often clinically that means glandulars I often find adrenal glandulars to help heal, strengthen the tolerance of stress. Other physical symptoms that would go along with this temporal bilateral TMJ weak foundation is going to be medial knee weakness Because of the muscle weakness, the sartorius muscle that goes from the front of the pelvis to the inside of the knee and the gracilis. Those are both muscles that will get weak and compromised when the adrenals are weak, and so that's what causes that pelvic rotation. So, in addition to that, we have the medial knee weakness. So that's what causes that pelvic rotation. So, in addition to that, we have the medial knee weakness, we have plantar fasciitis, the collapsing of the arch bunions, weakness in the ankles. Those are all physical manifestations of this chronic adrenal symptom as well. So if you have some of those, the reason I bring this kind of stuff up is then oh, check, check, I have these.

Speaker 2:

Stress is the trigger for my adrenal, for my jaw, and that's how I try to lay it out in the book too. If you have a, we're talking in this case we'll talk about frontal headache. If you, there's check, check box surveys, if you will, of symptoms that might also be associated with this, so that a person can look at that and say, yep, that's me. What's the solution? These are the adrenal glandulars, or herbs like rhodiola, like some of the the different, like pan-exchanging things that are going to help facilitate adrenal function, work really well. Conversely, for the frontal head and I'll get back to the other unilateral jaw problems.

Speaker 2:

In a sec frontal headaches typically is going to be the opposite type of an adrenal herb ashwagandha. That's better for the overzealous cortisol response. And to bring that up because ashwagandha is getting a lot of press these days and it's a super popular herb. It makes sense Most of us are over stress, especially this time of year. So that's the adrenal pattern and putting things together there. So if it's both sides of the jaw and we're having bite problems sleep apnea that's also tends to be an adrenal problem. So if we're working on that for the jaw, we want to help the person handle the stress better and then we can.

Speaker 2:

Maybe it means getting off coffee. Corn, unfortunately, is a food trigger that will cause cortisol release. That's something that a lot of people are unaware. Corn will also cause ovarian cysts, ladies, which could be a bi-tempo headache. So those are some of the food triggers we might want to consider.

Speaker 2:

If a person's a I look at blood type, that does have a lot to do with how the immune system responds. O blood types really don't do well on coffee. So if a person's doing too much coffee, that can be the adrenal stressor and set up the jaw pain. A blood types, fortunately, can get away with a little bit more coffee and be okay. So that's the art of healthcare and taking advantage, getting to the root of what's going on. So that's the bilateral jaw. If it's a right-sided jaw, that goes back to what I talk about, as with the right-sided headache, that often is going to be a gallbladder concern. If all their quote jaw pain is on the right side, then we want to look at what's going on with the gallbladder and compromising, referring pain to the right side of the head. So, incidentally, your right side sinus, right eye issues, right headaches all of that tends to be a gallbladder concern and I'll throw that out to you. Which tooth would be a gallbladder tooth in your world?

Speaker 1:

so that's the canines. I had like our point your teeth there. Um, I'm like furiously taking notes here. This is like I'm learning great stuff here. This is amazing great uh, yeah, that's.

Speaker 1:

And also about temporal being an estrogen. You know we tend to see more tmj in young females, so something about um, the estrogen also affects, you know, the joints and collagen more. I think today's modern world, us women are are supposed to be multitaskers, right, and it should not be a problem. There's and again with the hormone, I don't know if we tend to our adrenals tend to get overloaded so often. Yeah, like this is so interesting and why I think it's so important that you work with a healthcare team, right, because you come, you're feeling here, so you come to the dentist with a healthcare team. Right, because you come, you're feeling here, so you come to the dentist. Fix my team.

Speaker 1:

Almost every single one of my patients that have that I want them to either see chiropractor, a cranial fascial technician. I just had a girl yesterday. She thought that little itty bit here and I said, okay, yes, the bites off a little bit, but what else is happening? Do you have the shoulder and neck pain? Also, how much stress do you have in your life, like it? You can't just fix one little issue, right, one stone can be a broader issue, so you have to look at the body as a whole thing, and I think this is where we get tripped up in medicine and dentistry, because there are specialists in medicine now and dentistry that nobody's really putting it together. If you go see the endocrinologist, they're only going to talk to you about hormones. Go see the heart doctor, they're going to only talk to you about heart. They don't remember how it all works.

Speaker 1:

You and a lot of other, my colleagues in chiropractic are to me more meaningful. Those are the people that I reach out to if I'm having a symptom or something like hey, help me run through a gamut of how is everything related? What are all my symptoms and how relate to each other, because I think, again, that's how we get well, right? I like what you said. When you're doing muscle testing, you're finding what's the priority. Okay, you've got all these symptoms and all these issues, but I use a lot of biofeedback and you can get a lot of information.

Speaker 1:

But what do you need to work on first? Right? Because if you don't go in the right order, that also messes up the body. You can throw the nervous system out of balance, right? I kind of think that nervous system is so important. This is why chiropractor is so important. When that spine and everything is aligned, energy flows through the body, and to me, health is all about having enough energy and having it flow properly. And chiropractor is huge, for when that spine is a little crooked or a little off, you know, the body has a harder time getting the energy to the areas. And then, oh, we have a symptom I always think of when there's pain somewhere, there is something affecting the energy flow. So is it a toxin? Is it a physical damage? Is it emotional? There's all these different aspects to it.

Speaker 2:

We need to look at each individual thing in order to get complete resolution, in my opinion, For sure there's so much to unpack in there, and so my mantra there is pain is intended to elicit change right, and so if you the listener is having pain, that is your body yelling. It's your warning light on the dash of your car saying need fuel, low tire pressure. So hopefully you're blessed to be in a position where you have a practitioner that can help you identify the cause of that pain. But if they can't, you and I are empowering these people to keep build your team. Find somebody that can help you do that. Listen to podcasts like this that are going to help give you the information to find those answers.

Speaker 2:

We need to be our own advocate and, as you mentioned so much of quote medicine and the allopathic model is specializing, having more credentials to be laser focused on just this one area of the body and not look at what the body is really trying to tell us. So, 100%, that's our mission in life is to help people understand, find the answers out there. It's your body telling you. It's not something that you know to just suppress and move on and to circle back to finish up the left sided headaches or a stomach issue. That's typically low stomach acid.

Speaker 2:

So, again, if you have all these other symptoms, the pectoral muscle will tend to get weak. Weakness on bench press if you lopsided trying to bench press, stomach acid is at its highest first thing in the morning. So if you have troubleided trying to bench press, stomach acid is at its highest first thing in the morning. So if you have trouble digesting your proteins when you get started in the morning, or sluggish metabolism first thing in the morning, those are signs of stomach, further signs of stomach issues Left-sided eye weakness or left sinus. All those are signs, further signs that the stomach is the priority. So I've got further questions in the book and ultimately, hopefully leading to the solutions to help a person understand if they need calcium or they need vitamin B1 or zinc to help make stomach acid to eradicate that left-sided stomach pain. Then be empowered to find those solutions ultimately.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that again just absolutely fascinating. Speaking of that low stomach acid, you know most peeve that when they have reflux or these issues that they have too much acid because obviously they steal like a burning sensation. But we know there's so much science to prove. Now, 90% of the time it's too little acid. I try to explain this to my patients that that valve that closes the stomach off from the esophagus is dependent on how much acidity is in the stomach and if there is plenty of acidity that valve can stay closed. If there's not enough, it can open Other factors, other things that can affect that valve decades.

Speaker 1:

It's not trying to tell patients there's a reason. My God or universe or source or whatever you believe in, created human beings to have a very acidic stomach. Right, it's supposed to be that way to digest our big proteins. I think this is one of the reasons why a lot of people have sensitivities to weed and dairy. Those are very large heavy proteins, not to mention all the other antibiotics and other stuff in them. But it's more.

Speaker 1:

If you don't have enough stomach acid, they're going to be harder to digest. And so when we shut off that acid, I asked my patient all the time how are you expected to digest any of your food? And if you don't digest your food, how are you going to get the nutrients you need for your cells to function properly? And I just kind of leave it at that. I mean, you don't have to be highly educated or a scientific mind to be like, yeah, that makes sense. On that low stomach acid, and a lot of times, like you said, it's you're missing certain minerals. Right, and it's a catch-22, because if you don't have enough stomach acid, you can't absorb the zinc. Right, if you don't have enough zinc, you don't make the stomach acid.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and I agree completely. And so a couple of things there. Yeah, slow stomach. We need the stomach acid to activate calcium. We probably should start the whole preface of the conversation with what are the long-term consequences of blocking that stomach acid, right? So then we have those large proteins that are not getting broken down in the stomach. Those get through the leaky gut, then it sets up arthritis and all these monstrous nests. But ever-growing list of autoimmune conditions, that's, these large proteins leaking through the intestinal lining, not getting broken down properly. We need the stomach acid to break down to activate calcium. We need calcium to buffer the stomach. So there's another one of those vicious cycles, right? And then you as a dentist, right, if they're blocking that calcium, what's going on with the teeth? Right, then teeth are bones. We need calcium to make strong bones, obviously. So if we're blocking that stomach acid, what's going to happen to our ultimate dental hygiene? So the list is infinite of the consequences. So let's talk about what really is going on with that hiatal hernia.

Speaker 2:

The heartburn that a person has often is a gallbladder problem. So I find fixing helping, healing, correcting the gallbladder function again is also potentially going to manifest as a right-sided headache. The bile from the gallbladder helps us digest fats. The diaphragm is the most aerobic muscle in the body, so it needs those fats to be functioning. The diaphragm needs to expand and contract even while we're sleeping, and so when that doesn't work well, then the opening, the esophageal opening, gets too large and the stomach slips up through, and so that's the symptoms. Blocking stomach acid may modulate those symptoms a little bit. But ultimately that's my question how have you been feeling since you started your PPI or your acid block or your Tums? Not so good. I have less heartburn. Yeah, so we want to fix gallbladder.

Speaker 2:

One of the main offenders for gallbladders, I found, was wheat. Early on. Then I realized it's the glyphosate. It's the roundup pesticide in the wheat that inhibits bile production. Unfortunately it also obliterates the intestinal lining. But for what we're talking about here, we inhibit that bile production and we don't digest fats well, and that sets up that hiatal hernia.

Speaker 2:

So consider your foods, your diet. Are you eating too much wheat, corn, soy or oats that is laden with that Roundup, that glyphosate, which is very prolific in the US? We travel to the Eastern Bloc countries, the European Union, typically. They don't use as much glyphosate there. They don't kill the grains with those, like we do in America, so we can get away with the grains potentially there. Or if you're a wine drinker, then get a European wine that doesn't have the glyphosate. Unfortunately, because it's so used around in America. Most of the wines even are going to have glyphosate in them. So those are some triggers that are going to compromise the gallbladder, set up acetylcholine that is the brain's modulation of the gallbladder that will go low when the gallbladder is struggling and acetylcholine then would cause high blood pressure, high cholesterol, memory, recall issues. So if we have some of these concerns, it could be as simple as chilling on the wheat or taking a beet-based product to help the gallbladder, help us make bile properly and reduce the heartburn and prevent things like Alzheimer's. Right, that's a big win.

Speaker 1:

You just put so much information in that those few minutes that you just taught and like my mind is spinning, I'm like I can't write fast enough.

Speaker 1:

Awesome but super important, and I really I want to reiterate what you said about the people that I can't eat wheat, but I agree with you. I think the worst part is the glyphosate that is known to inhibit like 600 different enzymes in our bodies, and so that is where we is becoming really, really detrimental. And, like you said, it's everywhere. I don't even think really organic exists in our country anymore because it's in the air, it's in the water, like maybe it has fewer pesticides, but it's truly organic. I just don't think it's possible anymore the way that agricultural system is in the US. But this is really important.

Speaker 1:

Gallbladder surgery is one of the most common elected surgeries done in the US and it's completely avoidable. Elected surgery is done in the US and it's completely avoidable. I mean again, it's like why did, well, you know the universe create human beings? Why do we have a gallbladder Expendable then? Why did we? Why do we have it right? It's important. Certainly you can survive with a chimp gallbladder and a lot of people have the surgery and they feel better. But now we are compromised. Right, we are missing, you know, a key function to help us. And, speaking of the teeth, right, fat-soluble vitamins the D, the A, the E and the.

Speaker 1:

K are absolutely essential for healthy teeth or good eyesight, for bone structure, right, like we need that. And so if we can't digest or absorb those fat-soluble vitamins, and those fat-soluble vitamins work with the minerals like calcium and magnesium to put the calcium and the magnesium and the phosphorus in the proper hard tissue, like our teeth and our bones, right? So we have to have all of these nutrients and this is one of the reasons I think we have such chronic disease in our country today. Our food we are overfed but undernourished, right? Because with all of the pesticides and herbicides and the antibiotics and da-da-da-da-da the food, the soil's so deficient, the food is so deficient we are not getting those basic nutrients anymore. Because most of our food is high fructose, corn syrup and glyphosate, you know, and all of this highly or ultra processed food and that, like you said, hey, if you're having a gallbladder, maybe we just stop eating wheat and corn, maybe, for you know, a month and see what the difference is. I mean, it's obviously easier said than done, but there's so many alternatives out there.

Speaker 1:

We have such a fast paced society now. I used to love to cook even just 10 years ago, and now I come home and I'm like I'm tired, you know let's get takeout Right, and I'm like we really shouldn't, but I just I feel tired. So we've lost that art of wanting to cook or teaching our kids right there. Home Ec doesn't exist in high school anymore, you know we're not teaching our kids, you know, maybe hopefully in health class a little bit. But you know things have really changed and everybody wants that convenience, we want that quick fix on everything, right. So it's becomes becomes challenging. But if we maybe can create this awareness, right, maybe you know people can understand. People don't want to feel, most people and we don't want to feel sick and tired. So if they know, hey, maybe I just don't eat wheat.

Speaker 1:

That was the first experiment I did when I was trying to heal from my eczema. I stopped eating wheat for four weeks and I'd been on one steroid cream before I knew everything. I'd been on all the creams that didn't really help that much. Four weeks off of wheat and my hands cleared 90%. Nice, I don't need to be sticking all these terrible immune modulating things on my skin. I can just tweak my diet a little bit. But you know, just switching things up can, like you said, as a kid you realize, man, I wish my kids could be, could understand that. You know switching up the diet, which they know in their heads, but it's again. They're around all the bad foods and stuff all the time.

Speaker 2:

I'm hoping that groundwork is laid so you know when they're a little bit older they'll understand that and go back to eating the good, whole foods. I call that the Bruce paradigm. I had a patient named Bruce that came to me every other week and he was an optometrist with dry hands and every other week I'd tell him the wheat is causing your dry skin. He had literally cracking on his hands. But I need to eat my sandwich for lunch. I'm like no, you don't Find an alternative. Literally five years we went through this dialogue. He finally cut out the wheat. Oh, it seems like my hands got better. I'm like thanks for contributing to my kid's college fund. Glad you finally got the point.

Speaker 1:

I know when I first saw muscle testing, I was very interested in it. It was my chiropractor actually who was, and then she was doing it all and she was like, okay, you need X, y, z. And I was kind of like, you know, I wasn't, I kind of believed it, but I wasn't on board yet. It took me a few years to be like, oh yeah, I wish I had been to her back then and I couldn't leave. I wouldn't have myself deeper in the hole, you know. But everybody kind of comes to things in their own way and I had to learn, you know, as as a doctor, a provider, a health coach to learn how to step back a little bit and stop pushing. You know I this is the worst as a mother, you know. Of course my kids don't want to hear what I have to say push so hard. So I have had to learn over the years how to be like hey, here's what I know, you know, and take it or leave it, whatever, I'm here to help you on your journey.

Speaker 2:

And then they get that win and it inspires them to listen. And, okay, what can I do to feel even better? Right, right, I'd love to lean in. You talked a little bit about, basically extrapolate, leaned into the mental fatigue kind of thing, because that comes back to toxic metals and mercury is a massive one in that arena. So just because I've recently enjoyed some benefit there on the mental fatigue frontier, or brain, we'll call it brain fatigue ultimately, I know you can't tell, but I lost a little hair through my years and for me that has shown up as mercury and fluoride.

Speaker 2:

So one of the most profound things I remember is most consistent things I remember as a child is my mom making sure we took our little blue fluoride tablet, my brother and I, all of our youth and because the dentist told her, hey, they have cavities. At that time I was eating donuts for breakfast and dinner and I had two cavities every six months. When I saw the dentist Got loaded up with some mercury amalgam fillings and took fluoride every day and ultimately in my 30s, started realizing man, what's going on with my hair? And I've been working to bind up that mercury and that fluoride all since and recently I've found some tools. I've used some things to you probably talked about this on the podcast, I would assume but those old amalgam fillings that fortunately are not used as much anymore. But for those of us that are older to have those and they vaporize every time we chew and that mercury vapor tends to be very neuro-specific and very prone to hang out in the brain. And so if a person tries to detoxify and do DMPS or EDTA to bind up that mercury and get that out, unfortunately a lot of studies have shown that may take it out of the blood and they see a new blood test that shows less mercury, hey, victory. But that mercury has often been deposited in the brain at that point and so it's a little tougher to get through, get out of the brain.

Speaker 2:

But there's herbs and we can be a little bit more intentional. I find lithium as a mineral is a nice mineral to help facilitate liver detoxification, facilitate bringing the mercury out of the brain tissues. So lithium and think lithium deficiency that's hit a lot of press with bipolarness and the consequences of that or the benefits of using that to stabilize mood I think a dentist earlier on had the highest suicide rate because they were breathing the mercury all the time. So lithium is a good way to help facilitate that. Molybdenum the mineral MO molybdenum is another one that helps facilitate the key pathways to get some of that mercury out, and we also want. So those are ways to bind up the mercury. And then there's some herbs and I recently started on a product by Standard Process called Neuro Regenex that works good for concussions.

Speaker 2:

I'm an active cyclist and I landed on my head a few times. So between that and the mercury taking this Neuro Regenexx has helped my brain and the profound thing I noticed is when I get home, that brain fatigue at the end of the day after working with patients all day long, it's like I'm done. I want to hang my tongue out and sit on the couch as I've got my brain working better. It's been pretty profound where I get home and I still want to work. I still want to promote the book and get information out there and share.

Speaker 2:

Just look at that brain fatigue and how long you can stay focused to read a book or that sort of thing. Use that to be an early indicator of how functional the brain is post-concussion patients. That's one of my metrics is how long can you read before you check out. So we want to at least get to that 20-minute mark. Typically that's the tension cycle anyway when they first get a concussion. So I read two sentences and they're looking off to the sky. So use brain fatigue as an early indicator to keep that functioning so we don't have to go down the ugly roads. So that's the mercury aspect in the brain.

Speaker 2:

And then the fluoride aspect. Fluoride competes with iodine. That highlights it will compromise thyroid function. So if we have fluoride, which unfortunately is in the water hopefully RFK is going to get some of that out for us but that will compromise thyroid function. That can set up the tension headaches and the tension on the back of the head. Look at reducing fluoridated toothpaste in municipal waters that have fluoride. Unfortunately, one of the only ways to really get the fluoride out of municipal water is reverse osmosis, which tends to take too many minerals out, which then could potentially alkalize us.

Speaker 2:

I came to this as, personally, I had an RO system at my house and I'm like, ooh, I'm dehydrated. I downed a bunch of water and my lips would get more chapped, I'd feel more parched and then I'd use my spring water at the office. I drink two ounces, oh, I'm rehydrated. So that kind of got me on that rabbit trail of looking at water purification and so on. So I've leaned into now looking at RO systems to get all the junk out. But then we have to remineralize and re-energize that water to keep those minerals in our bones, in our teeth, to keep us alkaline, so that we can keep the calcium in our bones and not floating around plugging up the arteries and so on. So good fats. To circle back to the gallbladder thing eating the good omega-3s and so on keeps that gallbladder pumping so that we can keep minimize hyaluronias and right side of headaches and keep the calcium in the bones. But again, using water that's clean and healthy doesn't have that iodine which would have potentially compromised the thyroid.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's amazing. I'm fortunate, where we live we do not have fluoride in our water supply, so that's, that's very nice.

Speaker 2:

I was going to get you, try to inspire you to come move to Southern California, but I guess not now. Huh.

Speaker 1:

I don't think, so I'm staying away from.

Speaker 2:

California. I'll tell think so I'm staying away from California. I'll tell you that you know.

Speaker 1:

We're lucky where we are. We've still got some good freedoms here, Nice. But yeah, I reached out to the governor of New York, the mayor of Albany, who wants to fluoridate the water, and this was before a lawsuit came out proving where the federal judge said, hey, there's an unreasonable risk of lower-eye fluoridated water.

Speaker 1:

But I tried to present the evidence but I got back the line. It's one of the top 10 best public health successes of all time. Such a party line. And I was like, and not face real science. And you said you were taking fluoride as a kid but every time you went you had two cavities. So it's really not. You know, it's not.

Speaker 1:

Fluor chloride doesn't exist in natural teeth, so why should we put it there? What we need are minerals, right. So I'm trying to treat all my patients if they are, you know, more susceptible to decay. I'm thinking what's going on in the digestion, right? What is the stress level? Even kids can be stressed out and not make enough stomach acid, right, and then not absorb the minerals and have allcerative issue, create more of the reactive oxygen species which changes the fluid flow direction in the teeth. People don't think of teeth as an organ, but every single tooth has an organ, has its own blood, its own lymph, its own nerve supply and we need to treat it like any other organ. Right, we need to give it the nutrients. The other thing people don't realize is that teeth are mineralizing and demineralizing all it's possible. There are.

Speaker 1:

Some dentists were sometimes trained oh, you see that little dark spot on the answer but we better cut open the tooth. Well, you know again, it's a dynamic process. Once you cut into a tooth, it's forever. We haven't figured out quite how to replace the enamel. I'm sure it'll come, but it's not here yet. So my philosophy is always okay, let's talk about diet.

Speaker 1:

I've recently created this new remineralizing paste. I was listening to one of the more holistic organizations said hey, you never have to drill again. I was so excited to listen to this webinar and it was all about silver, diamine, fluoride, and I was. It was speechless. I just I could not believe that they were talking about this. And sure it stops the cavities, because fluoride is an antibiotic, right, it kills the bacteria, but it also stains the teeth black, which is not very aesthetic.

Speaker 1:

What else? What do we really need to stop cavities? We really need minerals. Right, we could use silver. I don't, you gotta be careful, right, we could use silver. You got to be careful, right? I don't really like colloidal silver anymore, but I have created my own little paste. I'm like all right, I've got a couple of patients who are experimenting with this and see what happens. Some patients get those white lesions after braces. Right, I don't want to have to cut into all of that ammo and put plastic all over these people's teeth. Yeah, maybe plastic is better than the mercury amalgam, but it is so. I'm like I only want to put in this foreign material if I absolutely 100% have to, If I've tried everything else and the cavity is getting bigger, because the last thing I want is somebody to need a root canal and more invasive dentistry. But again, the body has an amazing inherent ability to heal if we take away the burdens and give it what it needs. So you know, that's always kind of been my philosophy with that there.

Speaker 2:

Tell the world, please. Yeah, I hope everybody got what you just said, that teeth are dynamic. They're a tooth and for me as a clinician, is it teeth that is a problem? Is it a tooth? If it's a tooth, we need to look at the organ association that's compromising that tooth. Heal the organ and the tooth pain will go away when we do the right thing. How many times are you the dentist? There's nothing wrong with the root. There's nothing wrong with the tooth. I don't know what. They leave people with no answers at that point. So learn from what the body's trying to tell you. It's a motivator.

Speaker 1:

We're coming up to end here. Is there anything you've given us so much information? Is there anything else you'd really like on your heart, that's in your head, that you really want to share with the audience, for us today?

Speaker 2:

Just to capitalize on what we've both been preaching all along. Pain is intended to elicit change. Learn from what your body's trying to tell you Whether, hopefully, the practitioner you're associated with has the answers. If not, keep searching to find those answers. Bring it back to the practitioner so maybe they can help the next person that has it. We're all a community. Let's grow and learn together. Stop masking the problem, stop band-aiding, covering things up, and learn from what our bodies are trying to tell us. Praise you, doc, for sharing this and getting this information out. It's working. You've drawn a great reach in a short amount of time, so people are eating it up. They want to get to the root. That's fantastic, so thank you for what you're doing.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, and so tell us about your book and like how we can connect with you if we want to learn more.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Last name is Virgil V, as in Victor R-Z-A-L, so I'm on most of your social media platforms. If you can spell the name, you can find me. The book is the Headache Advantage Again, advantage because we can learn from what the location of the head pain. So headache, no, the, but headacheadvantagecom is the website and the book is on Amazon. Fortunately it's there in the hardcover, softcover, electronic version and soon to be released in audio. I listen to books while I exercise and that's how I can get 15, 20 books a year digested. Yeah, I'll try to make it available for you in all the different formats.

Speaker 1:

Well, I'm definitely. I can't wait to get a copy of that, because that's how I like to learn too audio, you know, listening to the podcast and reading. So I'm excited to dive a little bit deeper and learn all these connections. So I so appreciate your time to me. You know I often have people on subjects that I kind of know a lot about, and I really appreciate how much you taught me today so that I can, like you said, how I can bring that to my patients and, you know, on the podcast, help, you know, teach other people, because that's what it's all about really. It's about working together. It's about partnering with our patients and just helping the world to be a better place. So thank you so much for taking time today to share all your knowledge and wisdom with us, and I hope we keep in touch. I look forward to learning more from you.

Speaker 2:

Let's do more, appreciate what you're doing. Thanks, dr Carver.

Speaker 1:

Thanks everybody. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Again, check out Dr Rizal's book the Headache Advantage, and we'll see you guys all on the next episode. Hello, I'm Dr Rachel Carver, a board-certified naturopathic biologic dentist and a certified health coach. Did Rachel Carver, a board-certified naturopathic biologic dentist and a certified health coach? Did you know that over 80% of the US population has some form of gum disease? Many of us don't even know that we have this source of chronic infection and inflammation in our mouth that's been linked to serious consequences like heart disease, diabetes, stroke, dementia, colon cancer, kidney disease, even pregnancy complications. Would you like to learn how to reverse and prevent these chronic, debilitating conditions without spending a lot of time and money at the dentist? Join me for my six-week course, where I will teach you the root cause of disease. You'll learn how to be your own best doctor. Are you ready to get started? Let's go.