FAQ
My Theory of Everything
So you’ve just been told you’re anaemic now what?
RCP Three Simple Words
Can The RCP really help with my specific condition?
Yes, this protocol can help/work for all health conditions because it works right down at the cellular level on basic needs that every one of us require for our bodies to function correctly. Some may have a longer road to recovery than others, but this protocol combines the essential components to support and repair a body with any form of impaired-function. When the peer-reviewed scientific literature is synthesized together it becomes clear that there is no ‘disease’ – only cellular dysfunction. And as for genetic conditions – the field of epigenetics is proving that genes can be turned on and off – our mineral metabolism is key.
What are minerals and why do I need to pay attention to them?
Minerals run our body, but while we may have heard of copper, magnesium and iron back in high school chemistry or along our way in life, we rarely get told these are just a few of the critical components that make our bodies work.
What does nutritional and mineral balancing do?
Food is life. It supplies us with micro-nutrients including vitamins and minerals, many of which are essential to life. They each serve vital functions in the cell and body tissues, and as they cannot be synthesized by the body (except for Vitamin (hormone) D) they must be obtained through our diet. They are so essential that they are what drives our DNA metabolic pathways, DNA synthesis and repair, and gene expression.
Minerals interact with each other and usually have an effect on at least two other minerals, which in turn will react with two others and so forth. Therefore, any nutrient deficiency, or dysregulation in the mineral inter-relationships has the power to disrupt any number of metabolic functions, and disrupting genomic integrity leading to DNA damage and an ultimate compromise in homeostasis causing chronic disease. This is the link between nutrition and disease, and ensuring you get the right nutrition and the right balance of minerals is therefore essential for good health.
How do we become deficient and/or have mineral dysregulation?
There are a multitude of ways that this can occur. We know that modern intensive agricultural methods have caused the soils we grow our food in to become depleted, and with each successive generation of ‘fast-growing, pest-resistant’ fruits and vegetables we get less nutrition than the one before. Add to this the rise in fortified foods, fad diets that eliminate essential food groups, taking supplements with insufficient knowledge about their impact on the body, multivitamin use, drugs, medications, alcohol, and stress – all of which deplete minerals, and we have a recipe for disaster.
The current healthcare climate has a strong emphasis on pharmaceutical medications as being the only claim to scientific “truth” when it comes to treatment of disease. It neglects the biochemical origins of the malfunctioning of body processes that lead to disease, so these drugs do not address the root cause but rather serve to create a ‘band-aid’ for the condition. In doing so, our minerals become even further depleted and we become dis-empowered from taking more personal responsibility and control over our health and lives in general. By addressing nutrient imbalances, we are able to activate our body’s innate ability to heal itself, leading to improved health and ultimately achieving a better quality of life.
Which Foods should I be eating to increase certain Vitamin levels?
Firstly, the RCP diet removes inflammatory foods from your diet including gluten, grains, lectins, trans fats and sugar. Root Cause Protocol recommends an ancestral diet, which we suggest should focus on nutrient-dense real foods which are high in antioxidants and low in toxins. This includes plenty of fresh vegetables, wild caught fish and grass-fed or wild meats.
Vitamin A food sources:
- Grass fed butter
- Grass fed beef liver
- Eggs (ideally from chickens with access to grass!)
Vitamin B food sources (source here):
- Quality dairy (less processed = better, and ideally organic, biodynamic and/or unhomogenised) – B2, B3, B6, B12 (cheese, milk)
- Eggs (ideally from chickens with access to grass!) – B1, B2, B3, B6, B12
- Seeds and nuts
- Legumes
- Veggies – Peas (B1m B9), Tomatoes (B5), potatoes (B5, B6), broccoli (B5, – other dark green veggies such as spinach, asparagus, brussel sprouts – B6, B9
- Fruit – organic/spray free ideally – B1
- Grass fed beef liver – added bonus of other nutrients too – B1, B5, B9
- Other meats – pork (B3, B5, B6), poultry (B3, B5, B6), kidney (B5), fish (B3, B6), meats and fish in general – B3, B12
- Bee pollen
- Stabilised rice bran (empty stomach helpful!) – B2
Vitamin C food sources:
- Colourful fruit and veggies plus many green veggies too
Vitamin D food sources:
- Cod liver oil
- Grass fed beef liver
- Eggs (ideally from chickens with access to grass!)
Vitamin E food sources:
- Wheat germ oil
- Red Palm oil
Vitamin K food sources (summarized from here):
- Grass fed butter
- Cheese
- Grass fed meat
- Egg yolks (ideally from chickens with access to grass!)
- Fermented Foods (more variable how much K2, but good for you in many ways!)
Can I follow the RCP if I’m vegan?
Yes and No. One of the most important elements of the RCP is Retinol – this is animal based vitamin A. It is crucial to get this preformed Vitamin A to activate copper into it’s bioavailable active form. The RCP involves nutrient-rich natural whole foods of both plant and animal origin. There are plenty of parts of the RCP that vegans and vegetarians can follow with benefit, however without the inclusion of critical nutrients only found in animal products, activation of ceruloplasmin is biologically impaired, resulting in mineral dysfunction which will unfortunately most likely worsen with time. We do have many vegan clients who make the exception for liver capsules and cod liver oil which may be classed as ‘medicine’.
Should I stop my medication and follow the Root Cause protocol (RCP) instead?
No. It is very important to stay on any current medication. The RCP can be done alongside any medication, and once the body is supported and more balanced you may be able to slowly wean off your medication under the supervision of your doctor. It is encouraged that you remain monitored by a doctor/health professional and share the Root Cause Protocol and accompanying evidence with them. Always seek medical attention in emergency situations.
Do you diagnose &/or treat health conditions?
No, as a RCP Consultant I am able to identify mineral imbalance that leads to cellular dysfunction and oxidative stress, but the purpose is never to diagnose any particular condition nor to treat it. I am able to educate you on what causes mineral dysfunction and practical ways to repair it. I am here to provide you tools to understand your mineral status and what the range of stressors that may be impacting on this are. I am here to empower you with tools, resources, scientific literature (which you can share with your Dr/practitioner if you wish) and support to find your own way on this health journey.
Where can I find more information?
Supporting you to overcome health challenges is what I do – I am here to support you in learning how to manage the overwhelming quantity of information so it is relevant to you and to actually help you learn how to APPLY this knowledge in a practical way.
A great place to start, is here – there are some things to stop immediately, and you can edge into the ‘starts’ with support and guidance.
RCP Starts and Stops
Just stopping these 12 items – PHASE 0 – is likely to make an impact. And, it’s free!
Root Cause Protocol – STOPS
- STOP Taking Iron Supplements
- STOP Taking Vitamin D3 Supplements
- STOP Taking Calcium Supplements
- STOP Taking Zinc Supplements
- STOP Taking Molybdenum Supplements
- STOP Taking “Drugstore” Once-A-Day Multivitamins, Prenatals, etc.
- STOP Using Synthetic forms of Ascorbic Acid, Citrate, & Citric Acid
- STOP Using High Fructose Corn Syrup & Synthetic Sugars
- STOP Using Industrialized Omega-6 Oils (e.g. Soybean Oil, Canola Oil, etc.)
- STOP Using Fluoride (toothpaste, water, etc.)
- STOP using colloidal silver as an antibiotic
- STOP eating low-fat, high-carb, processed, refined foods
The following 3 Phases form part of the recommended RCP supplements, however it is important to SLOWLY being implementing the STARTS, step by step, phase by phase and ideally with guidance.
Root Cause Protocol – STARTS
STARTS (PHASE 1)
- START Taking Mineral Drops
- START Taking The “Adrenal Cocktail”
- START Taking Wholefood Vitamin C Complex
- START Taking Magnesium
- START Taking Cod Liver Oil
- START Taking Wholefood Vitamin E Complex
- START Eating Organic Wholefoods
STARTS (PHASE 2)
- START Taking MTHR NATURE sources for B Vitamins, preferably all 3:
- Bee Pollen
- Stabilized Rice Bran
- Beef Liver
STARTS (PHASE 3)
- START Taking Silica / Diatomaceous Earth
- START Taking Boron Supplements
- START Taking Taurine Supplements
- START Taking Iodine Supplements
- START Donating Blood
STARTS (PHASE X)
- START Donating Blood
- START Getting More Sunlight
- START Clearing Food & Environmental Sensitivities
- START Releasing Stress through practises such as BWRT, EFT, MAP Coaching
- START Limiting Blue Light Radiation Exposure
Lab Tests
HTMA (Hair tissue mineral analysis) test is an inexpensive, accurate screening that uncovers how the stress of your life has affected your mineral balance. It provides a deeper understanding into your body chemistry, allowing us to put together a game plan to restore and maintain optimal health. You can order a hair analysis directly from my site or as part of a program package. Once the hair analysis is ordered, shortly after I will send you an email with instructions on how to proceed. After we receive the results, we can set up a consultation to interpret your results.
The HTMA works best when combined with a full blood work panel, see details below.
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis
HTMA measures the levels and comparative ratios of nutrient and toxic minerals found in hair.
In Australia, we use Interclinical laboratories as our primary source of HTMA’s. The samples they receive are sent to TEI (Trace Elements Inc) in the United States.
We prefer results from either of these sources (or other companies who use TEI), but can use other HTMA results too in most circumstances.
If you have results from another laboratory, please contact us so that we can determine whether or not we can use these tests.
For more information on the best way to get hair samples, please check this video. Interclinical themselves have a great guide too, which you can review here or TEI have a great resource on their website here.
International Clients
If you are in a country other than Australia, please contact us to find your best local supplier who uses the TEI laboratories, or order via Even Better Now who use TEI but offer services around the world.
Blood Tests
Blood tests are important in determining mineral balance – Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) gives only part of the picture.
Whether you are living in Australia or overseas, below is a list of the bloods we use:
- Iron studies (including Iron, Total Iron-binding Capacity (TIBC), Transferrin, Ferritin, Saturation)
- Plasma Zinc
- Red Blood Cell Magnesium (RBC)
- Serum Copper
- Serum Ceruloplasmin
- Haemoglobin
- Retinol or Vitamin A
- Vitamin D (25[OH])
The last two may need to be manually added to your cart if ordering DIY tests (iMedical especially)
Australian Clients
You may be able to get the blood results done through one of your existing physicians and they may bulk bill them. Many don’t want to do tests just because you ask for them, but generally if they can give adequate reasoning to Medicare as to why you need the tests done, they MAY consider it.
Queenslanders: please use Sullivan Nicolaides, NOT QML where you can. QML test RBC magnesium in a unit we cannot use.
Adults can order via iMedical and select one of the options below. It may end up less fuss and cheaper to do this than travelling to/waiting at/seeing your GP and then going back again to get the results.
If you live in Queensland, your best option to order your own tests is ‘MAG 2 Qld’ – it is more expensive than for other states, but one single blood draw and they provide the correct units for us to use.
All other states can order the ‘MAG 2’ option.
International Clients
For residents in other countries please contact us to discuss the tests if you cannot get them via ways you would normally do so in your country.
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