Anna Cabeca, DO

Biohacking and Longevity

Aired on: December 10, 2021

Episode Description

Dr. Cabeca, the “girlfriend doctor” will share her insights how to optimize health in the female body. While many studies focus on men, the female body is different and changes with age. Learn how biohacks work different in women and how to use them for optimal health. There will be plenty of information for men as well when gender comparisons are made

Anna Cabeca, DO

Her Books                                         Websites

The Hormone Fix                               Dranna.com

Ketogreen sixteen                              Instagram the girlfriend doctor

Menupause

Her journey

  • She went through early menopause at age 39
  • She was diagnosed with permanent infertility and wanted to have a baby.
  • At one point she weighed over 240 pounds
  • She used food as medicine and lifestyle approaches and was able to give birth
  • She wants to empower people to take back the power over their own health
    • To understand the epigenetic integration of lifestyle choices

Her five key points in her book Menupause

  • Her book Menupause has five distinct menu plans each pausing something different; each for six days There are five five day menu plans each pausing something
    • Keto extreme plan. Autoimmune protocol to calm down inflammation
    • Increasing healthy carbs
    • Carnivoir plan, low carbs, with protein fast days
    • Cleanse plan 6 days of shakes and teas to healthy gut issues, increase detoxification
    • Ketogreen an alkalizing nutritional plan to incorporate alkalizing greens, herbs, spices in diet
  • To break through plateaus
  • Perhaps a food is causing inflammation
  • We need metabolic flexibility
  • 10 % fasting, 80 % ketogreen and 10 % feasting

Is individualistic, not one size fits all

  • Bioindividuality; become your own detective
  • Need to figure out what works for the individual with their stress level, physical and physiologic state, environment

Keto diet

  • Is a healthy way and an unhealthy way to do keto
  • For long term keto, we need alkalinizers and minerals
    • We get these from the food we eat – plant based foods and micronutrients that feed our gut microbiome to support hormone balance, our pH, tolerance.
  • Add greens, sprouts to food
  • Diversity in diet helps improve microbiome diversity
  • Broccoli sprouts good for hormones and detoxification

Sexual differences on keto diet

  • Often recommendations for women were based on research on males
  • Keto affects men and women differently
  • She did not feel well on the keto diet;
  • Men
    • Easier for men to do keto: they have 10 times the amount of  testosterone,
    • Their testosterone is an anabolic hormone
    • Men won’t lose as much bone, muscle or collagen
  • women
    • will lose more bone, muscle and collagen
    • women get into an acidic state
    • women’s arterial blood gas pH will not change significantly
      • women will “rob peter to pay Paul” to keep mineral balance
      • some recommend taking electrolytes to remedy this but they aren’t alkalinizers
      • spices are alkalinizers
      • hormone changes in mid life create brain fog which for her cleared up when she changed to a keto diet
        • the brain uses glucose for fuel but when glucose is at low levels, the brain uses ketones for fuel
        • glucose neogenesis in the brain is estrogen dependent
        • as women go through hormone shift and estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels decline
          • at this time the brain is starving for fuel so shifting to keto is mandatory
            • can do this through healthy “keto green” or fasting
        • as we age, gluconeogenesis in brain becomes an increasing issue
          • perhaps this is why women have 2 x rate of Alzheimer’s disease
        • have to test not guess
        • need to do studies on women
        • need to look at physiologic markers.
        • Need to incorporate lifestyle changes

Do electrolytes help put women on equal footing with men so we don’t lose our muscle, collagen and bone?

  • We have to monitor
  • Electrolytes and sometime bioidentical hormone replacement will help
  • Food is one piece of the puzzle
  • Cortisol evoked by stress, is a huge acidifier
  • As women go through perimenopause, there are increasing stressors
    • Physiological, home, work, relationship and pandemic stressors
    • Predominantly, progesterone is depleted to make cortisol
      • Cortisol is an acidifying hormone
        • Life style choices have to shift
          • Healthy green keto diet
          • Intermittent fasting
          • Increasing oxytocin
    • women have to get into ketosis

Low fat diet

  • quickest way to Alzheimer’s Disease

Constant snacking

  • increases insulin resistance
  • has epigenetic effects on children
  • need to stop constant snacking

Dietary protein 

  • excessive protein increases glucose
  • mitigated by eating fat with protein
  • 6 – 8 ounces of protein won’t kick out of ketosis
    • Depends on metabolism, muscle mass, insulin sensitivity factors

Keto green diet

  • Includes Intermittent fasting
  • Keeps blood sugar levels stable
  • Have ketogreen meal in am:
    • Healthy fats and proteins
    • Add alkalizing greens
    • Avocado in smoothies make them creamy
    • Won’t increase blood sugars
      • Increasing blood sugars increase hunger

Oxytocin

  • Need oxytocin increasing behaviours
    • Oxytocin is hormone of love, bonding and connection
    • Easy to laugh, enjoy life, have fun, feel loved and love self
      • Gratitude, meditation, prayer increase oxytocin
      • Say grace before eating, be grateful, be in good company
    • Is most powerful and alkalinizing hormone in body

How to measure how well one is doing on diet?

  • Urine pH
    • urine pH is a vital sign as important as our pulse, blood pressure and weight
    • an acidic urine pH is associated with cancer, inflammation, metabolic disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes\
    • cortisol will make our urine pH acidic
      • getting into ketosis and alkalizing urine pH is like magic
    • helps to identify toxic behaviour, toxic thoughts, toxic actions and inflammation causing foods
    • if morning pH is acidic, bump up alkalizers and minerals with scoops of
      mighty maca in am”
      • if after exercising, is no longer in ketosis
      • blood sugar might have gone up because muscle glycogen was converted to glucose which comes down quickly
  • Urine ketones
    • She created urine pH and keto strips so can be measured at same time
    • When in ketones for a long time, when leave temporarily and bump back in will see ketones in urine
    • If do ketosis for a long time, won’t see ketones in urine, but will see in blood
    • Blood ketones is the gold standard
    • Can test breath ketones
  • Continuous glucose monitoring
    • Gives information on how our bodies respond to our diet and life style changes
    • Is a small patch that measures interstitual glucose
    • Put on fatty part of arm or abdomen
    • Needs prescription “free style libre”
      • Don’t need blue tooth
      • Can use smart phone with nfd reader
      • Is delayed 20 minutes
      • Gives 8 hours of data which transfers to smart phone
      • For example, she learned that 15 french fries created cravings
    • On path towards diabetes, first sign is high surge of glucose after eating as the first surge of insulin is impaired,  eventually blood sugars come down
      • Longer term, the second surge of insulin is impaired so that fasting morning glucose levels are high

coffee’s effects on ketosis

  • after black coffee, she becomes acidic and out of ketosis
    • glucose monitor showed caffeine increased cortisol which increases glucose 20 to 30 points
    • Note, in November 2021 interview, Dr. Pompa pointed out for some coffee kicks folks out of ketosis for same reasons cited)
    • So she now drinks coffee after she breaks her fast’
    • Some are fast and some are slow coffee metabolizers
    • Studies have shown that a small amount of coffee is good for fast metabolizers
    • Results are not as clear for slow coffee metabolizers

She has sixteen life style recommendations

  • Community giving and sharing
    • Reseveratol studies, Mediterranean diet studies – table full of friends laughing
      • This is true medicine
      • Giving, contributing to others and receiving. Biggest biohack
  • Intermittent and periodic fasting
    • Cycle in feasting what keeps you compliant 90 % of time
    • Monitoring  can give information on what can feast on
  • Monitor urine pH to see what puts one in acidity
    • When in acidity add alkalizing substances and behaviours (eg. Funny movie, play in park, hang out with best friends, laugh)
  • Supplement in smart way
  • Bioidentical hormones
    • Topical progesterone especially for women over age 50
      • For neurological decline
      • To balance physiology
      • Would not need if in tropics in sun and moon and eating well
        • Now perhaps called “earthing”
      • Helps with sleep, anxiety, depression
      • Balance cream (biological pregnanolone and progesterone
        • Can cycle with two nights off – should not use every day
        • 20 mg for women
        • 5 mg for men for sleep, anxiety, depression, memory
  • Build muscle
    • Weight bearing exercise
      • 2 to 3 days of weight lifting
      • Challenge body limits to break out of routine
        • Infrared sauna and ice plunges
          • Can start with 30 – 60 seconds of cold shower til don’t feel cold any longer
      • High intensity interval training
        • Increases testosterone and growth hormone
      • Weight bearing exercises
  • Focus on oxytocin
    • Most powerful hormone in body
  • Have lots of sex
    • Loving relationship key factor in longevity
    • Key in oxytocin
    • A, B C s of sexual CPR
    • Women’s drive for sex different than men’s
    • Need to open communication
    • Vaginal health important
      • Jova helps with dryness
      • Vaginal testosterone, DHEA
      • Mirror neurons give message that not enjoyable