Welcome back to our weekend Cabral HouseCall shows!

This is where we answer our community's wellness, weight loss, and anti-aging questions to help people get back on track!

Check out today's questions:

S: What's the deal with smoothies? Why are they recommended so much? Not just by Equilife but from a lot of other wellness practitioners. In general I find they don't satiate me for long and could end up causing me to overeat in the long run. But more than that, I developed a different issue. I found Equilife, as it seems many have, when experiencing gut issues (probably post infectious IBS) and looking for answers. My issues kept coming and going. Then I started to realize it was aggravated during detoxes. (This all evolved over a year and a half.) I finally discussed with AI. In a nutshell, AI suggested I eat warm foods only, cooked veggies. Eat foods in a particular order. This wasn't high risk so I tried this advice. It helped so much. So now I wonder, is it really best to recommend smoothies for everyone? Especially when the detox with shakes or smoothies are recommended as a starting point before other protocols? Seems like if smoothies were to be recommended, it might be better post gut healing? (I now remember a Chinese medicine practitioner telling me years ago that warm food is better for a sensitive gut. I had forgotten that temporarily.) Btw - it's all cold or raw food that can be too much for me right now. Not just shakes or smoothies but I also tested these things alone, outside of the detox. I just see smoothies recommended as nutrition for all kinds of reasons and to people with all kinds of gut issues and don't really hear anyone discuss when it is not good for some of us. Now I just need to figure out how long to heal before I can add back cold food and raw veggies at times. I miss my carrot sticks but glad my gut is happier. So why are smoothies such a thing in the wellness community?

Katie: Thank you for everything you have done and taught me. I had a Prenuvo scan done (thank you for the code) and found that I have a small pineal gland cyst, multiple kidney cysts, a syrinx in my spinal cord and a cyst on my cervix. I lived a very unhealthy first 33 years, but have been living clean the last 3. Big 5 showed bacterial overgrowth, mold, candida, heavy metals, mitochondrial dysfunction, high manganese, high bedtime cortisol, and low T3. Hormones and omegas were optimal. What is the root cause of cyst formation? Besides going through protocols and proteolytic enzymes is there anything else I should do? Of course, not looking for diagnosis or treatment plan.

Liz: Hi Dr. Cabral, I am a 36 year old female with no history of health problems before the last 2 years. On June 26, 2024 I underwent an XILF lumbar fusion surgery to fuse my L4/L5 because of chronic back pain. I soon found that this was the biggest mistake of my life. I haven't been the same since. I have been experiencing unrelenting, chronic nausea and abdominal discomfort on a daily basis. I also experience brain fog and chronic fatigue. As such, my performance at work has significantly decreased, my mood has been at an all time low, some days I can't even get out of bed. I wish I never had the surgery, had I known my quality of life would have plummeted so drastically. I've gone to countless specialists (a gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, rheumatologist, an ENT, neurologist, OBGYN, Accupuncture, even tried Reiki, and every test result shows unremarkable/normal results. I recently went to pain management and they gave me an epidural after seeing significant scar tissue around the surgical site. I am not experiencing any relief. In fact, I think I feel worse. I am getting married in May and want to start a family but have not been able to get myself right since my surgery. I'm scared I'll never be able to find relief. I don't know where else to turn or what else to do. I just want to get back to normal again and enjoy my life. If there's anything you can think of that I can try, I'll do it. I'm at my wits end. Please help me.

Rebecka: Hi Dr. Cabral. I have recently been diagnosed with Anemia. I have not been told the specific type of Anemia. I feel terrible 24/7. My symptoms include fatigue, weakness, dizziness, chest pain and shortness of breath. I feel this is an off and on chronic problem as I have realized I've been having these symptoms for years. My RBC are low, my retic is low and low lymphocytes. Mcv and mch values were high on my CBC. Vitamin b12 and folate normal and my TSH was what I considered low normal. I also experienced a hot flash after lunch every day. I am very petite at 5ft 1 and 95-100lbs and I am 43 years old. What tests should I be doing to figure out the root cause of my anemia? I know hormones and stress can play a role as well. I live a very stressful lifestyle working full time with 2 young daughters. On top of all this, I had an ultrasound of my abdomen in December. It showed biliary sludge and a 2cm hemangioma on my liver. Are there and herbs to dissolve the sludge before it causes any more pain or complications? I would just like to feel "good" again and live a somewhat normal life. Please help me.

Renee: Hi Dr Cabral, Firstly thank you for your dedication to helping people globally find answers to their health challenges. I am an IHP lv 2 and would greatly appreciate any advice on a client with CIDP (MADSAM syndrome) — Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyradiculoneuropathy. A 62 yr old male, fit, dealing with symptoms for 2 yrs, legs are weak and seem to be getting weaker, continues to experience widespread fasciculations (nerve twitching), which are now also affects his hands. His neurologist has recommenced treatment with IVIG (Intravenous immunoglobulin) to address what body is doing to the nerves. I will be having him on the DESTRESS protocol and highly recommending the Big 5 to get to the root cause. Your thoughts on using IVIG along with removing toxicities and replacing deficiencies would be extremely appreciated as I am very keen to help him reverse this and get his life back. Thanking you in advance. Renae