Peoplewith hyperinsulinemia—which is perhaps the majority ofpeople with weight problems—will not be successful on thismeal plan. I had a patient for whom a half cup of split pea soupwould prevent her from burning fat for seven days. For somepeople, one piece of bread, one carrot stick, or one yam willprevent fat-burning for three days. Other low-carbohydrate plans give people the impression
they can eat as much protein as they want. But this is misleading.The body cannot store protein. Any excess protein the bodycan’t use or eliminate is converted into sugar for fat storage.In this situation, you can be burning fat (i.e., be in ketosis)and be storing fat at the same rate, and you will not belosing weight.171 PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON
WEIGHT LOSS
In order for the body to burn fat, you have to feed it and
water it. The first requirement means that you cannot skipany meals. The body requires fuel 24 hours a day: your heartis beating, you’re breathing, and there are thousands ofchemical reactions occurring all of the time. When you skipbreakfast, you are going without fuel for 15 hours. Inresponse, the body will automatically store fat for the next 24hours. So even if you are not hungry in the morning, it’sprobably wisest to eat. The other requirement is water. Fifty percent of your
body is water. You cannot burn fat without water. Keep an eyeon the color of your urine. If it’s yellow, you’re dehydrated.Drink more water. T ry to get your urine as clear as possible. Alcohol does not enhance weight loss. The body likes
alcohol as a fuel. It’s an easy fuel to burn, and it burns at sevencalories per gram, almost as much as fat. Given the choice, thebody will always burn alcohol before fat. The bottom line is:if you want your body to burn fat, don’t give it alcohol. There is an old wives’ tale that says if you want to lose
weight, you have to give up coffee. In actuality, caffeine maystimulate insulin production, though not in everybody.People with Syndrome X (high insulin, high triglycerides, andlow HDL cholesterol) traditionally have the worst problemwith caffeine in terms of insulin. T o find out whether you are burning fat, you can use
urine-testing strips called Ketostix, which are available inmost drugstores. The end-stage of fat metabolism producesketone bodies, and these are partially eliminated through thekidneys. If you have ketone bodies in your urine, the Ketostixwill change color, indicating you are burning fat. Everyone’s172 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  metabolism is different, so using Ketostix will help you to find
out what you can get away with in your meal plan. CORTISOL AND WEIGHT
Recently, there has been a lot of attention on the relationship
between cortisol and fat. Listening to the advertisements on theradio and television, one could almost surmise that this is theonly cause of weight problems. Let me try to put this subject inperspective. The body’s main function in life is survival.Therefore, the body has become extremely efficient over theyears at creating and storing fat, which it considers the mostimportant fuel for survival. The adrenal glands also aid in survival, since in times of
extreme stress they produce hormones that help the bodyeither fight a predator or escape. This system worked prettywell in the caveman days. After a cave person saw a saber-toothed tiger, his or her adrenal glands would produce cortisol,which would raise sugar levels to give the muscles energy forfight or flight. They would also release adrenaline to giveadditional energy, or to stimulate fat cells to release fat for evenmore energy. However, this system is set up for a stress reactionlasting about ten minutes. In this day and age, people are subjected to stress
continuously—at work, while driving, meeting deadlines,and so on. In these situations, the adrenal glands may becontinuously putting out cortisol, which is continuouslyraising sugar levels, which is continuously raising insulinlevels, which is continuously creating fat. Whether or not cortisol is a major source of weight
problems in people is not entirely clear. Suffice to say, however,that high cortisol levels do not promote weight loss.173 PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS  Stress is never good for the body. The more in balance you
are with your hormones and your environment, the healthieryou will be. Look for areas in your life that are giving younegative energy and eliminate them. Eliminate timeconstraints, if you can. Say “no” to road rage. One last point: exercise is a great way to reduce excess
adrenal hormones and reduce stress, and maybe help withweight loss. THE MAINTENANCE PHASE
In my practice, when patients reach their goal weight, they
enter the second phase of the program, which is geared towardpreventing fat from returning to the body. As long as a personlimits the amount of carbohydrates to the amount of sugarrequired by muscle tissue, excess carbohydrates will not bestored as fat. In this regard, the amount of exercise a personengages in is the main determinant of weight maintenance. Thebody’s priority is to replace any sugar that the muscles haveburned with sugar—it’s a survival thing. The more sugar(as glycogen) the muscles have burned, the more thecarbohydrates you eat will go into muscle rather than beingstored as fat. If people do not want to exercise, they have to be more
aware of their carbohydrate intake. People who produce excessinsulin because of Syndrome X may require medication (e.g.,metformin, also known as Glucophage) or supplements (e.g.,chromium, alpha lipoic acid) to lower their insulin levels. However, getting one’s hormones back into balance and
eliminating fat-creating medications are perhaps the key tosuccessful weight maintenance. Here the most importanthormones are progesterone and thyroid.174 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  THE MISSING FACTORS
As stated earlier, statistically, 98 percent of people gain weight
back after losing it, regardless of the approach they have used.This includes Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Lindora, Atkins,and gastric bypass. As soon as people get off any program theyhave followed, the weight tends to come back on. The reason isthat the underlying mechanism that created the fat in the firstplace is still there, whether it be an over-production of insulin,an under-active thyroid, producing too much estrogen, ortaking lipogenic (fat-creating) drugs. If these factors are not addressed, your body will always be
creating too much fat. Throughout this book I have intro-duced you to a number of my patients who had a lifetime offrustration until these factors were taken into consideration. A SIMPLE PHILOSOPHY
My method for successful, permanent weight loss is simple. It’s
based on principles that have been around for a long time andhave worked for many people. But it will not work unless thebody’s hormones are in balance. Since hormone levels decrease as we age, the older you are,
the likelier it is that your hormones may need to be adjusted.For reasons discussed throughout this book, finding a doctorwho can balance your hormones successfully, using the naturalhormones that involve the fewest side effects, may not be easy.A compounding pharmacy may be able to direct you to aphysician who works with bio-identical hormones. And hope-fully this book will provide enough information, hints, andexamples to help you in your quest for proper treatment.175 PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS  HUMAN GROWTH
HORMONE—HGH
chapter TWENTY– ONE
One hormone I have not mentioned until now is human
growth hormone (HGH). It regulates how the body grows,repairs itself, and burns fat. Interest in HGH replacement therapy has been on the
increase ever since the publication of an article in the 
New
England Journal of Medicine that showed HGH’s rejuvenating
potential. Daniel Rudman, M.D. documented the effects ofsix months of HGH supplementation upon 21 men aged 61to 81 years. The results were remarkable. Every area measuredshowed improvement—their body fat decreased, their leanbody mass increased, their skin became thicker, and their bonedensity increased. He said it was equivalent to undoing 10 to20 years of aging. Now dubbed the “fountain of youth hormone,” HGH has
become a star feature at anti-aging clinics around the country.T oday more people are being exposed to HGH than everbefore, and it may possibly be of benefit when used correctly. 177QUESTIONS ARISE
However, as with any hormone, you must weigh the benefits
against the risks. The primary role of HGH after age 30 is tohelp the body repair tissues—the growth stage is over. Givinghigh dosages of a hormone that can promote the growth oftissue may lead to unwanted side effects: acromegaly(enlargement of bony tissue), enlargement of the heart leadingto congestive heart failure, carpal tunnel syndrome, andarthritis. As people get older, there is always the possibility ofcancerous tissue sitting somewhere in their bodies. HGH couldstimulate the growth of that tissue. (Note that when HGH isused in children to stimulate normal levels of growth it doublestheir chances of getting childhood leukemia.) HGH is notrecommended for people with diabetes. HGH is the main hormone put out by the pituitary gland. Taking inappropriately high doses, especially over prolongedperiods, can suppress the pituitary gland. It’s the master gland,which can affect all other endocrine glands in the body, so thismay create even more problems. However, there are ways of elevating HGH levels without
giving HGH directly. This can be done through manipulatingother hormones or by giving supplements called secretoguesthat stimulate HGH production. This is a much less expensiveapproach than the usual high price tag charged by many anti-aging clinics for HGH injections. OTHER CONCERNS
I have a lot of respect for nature. It seems to know what it’s
doing. When using hormones to alter the natural pattern, onemust always consider the logic of it. Giving high dosages of178 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  HGH at a time when the body no longer needs high levels may
be problematic. The same is true with estrogen replacement. A woman
never stops making estrogen. It is produced, for instance, in fatcells, in skin cells, and in the adrenal glands. The high levelscustomarily given in hormone replacement therapy are neededonly when a woman is trying to get pregnant—not a likelyscenario in menopausal women. This is another situation inwhich the risks may far outweigh the apparent benefits. One last thought to keep in mind: A major reason for the
popularity of HGH is the high level of interest in anti-agingremedies. HGH stimulates the production of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor-1) in the liver. In fact, levels of IGF-1 areused to monitor HGH production. Recent studies indicate,however, that IGF-1 may actually speed up the aging process;it is considered the number two hormone to do this. Insulin,by the way, is number one. Another concern is that high levels of IGF-1 are found in
the cancerous tissues of people with breast and prostate cancer.My feeling is that the jury is still out when it comes to usingHGH. It may possibly be administered safely with carefullycontrolled dosages and monitoring for untoward effects:edema, tingling in the fingertips, arthritic pains, and unwantedgrowths. However, the bottom line regarding the use of HGHis that it may be illegal to prescribe it. Congress passed a lawyears ago addressing the off-label use of HGH that declaresit illegal to use HGH as an anti-aging drug or for otherunsupported claims.179 HUMAN GR OWTH HORMONE—HGH  DOCTORS DON’T ALWAYS
LISTEN—SHIRLEY M. ’S STORY
chapter TWENTY–TWO
Before she came to see me at age 50, Shirley had suffered from
asthma and severe headaches for her entire adult life. Doctorswere unable to help her with either problem, or with theweight gain that started in her 20s. As I helped Shirley master her weight I was able to remove
the cause of her asthma and headaches, too. I only wish shehad come to me earlier. She would have been spared ahysterectomy and the removal of her gallbladder. Medicalstudies have shown that 90 percent of hysterectomies may notbe necessary. Shirley’s story should strike a familiar note with patients
who, when seeking help from the conventional medicalcommunity, feel they are being ignored and misunderstood. For the first 21 years of my life I was healthy and skinny as a
rail. I weighed around 103 pounds. Although I developedasthma as a teenager, other than that, I didn’t have a lot ofmedical problems. All of that changed after I had my first baby. That’s when my
weight began to fluctuate and I started experiencing painfulheadaches. I went from a size 3 to a size 13, and the headaches
181began affecting my ability to function. After my second pregnancy
I went up to a size 18 and the headaches got even worse. I triedliving on aspirin to control the pain, but it didn’t work. At the age of 45 I hit a wall with my weight. I’d always
followed the Dr. Atkins diet to lose weight, but suddenly it didn’twork anymore. So I tried different things. I tried eating smallportions, eating low fat, low sugar, whole grains, fresh fruits andvegetables. I tried eating yogurt and popcorn and oatmeal. Ithought these foods were good for me and would help me, but allthey did was make me bigger. As I got older my asthma attacks went out of control. It almost
seemed as though the more weight I gained, the worse the asthmagot. I started carrying my inhaler with me all of the time. After my third baby I had gained so much weight I lost all the
muscle control in my tummy. I was pear-shaped. I had skinny legs,skinny arms, and a huge stomach. My doctor at the time told methat if I tried to carry another baby I’d probably drag it on theground so I decided not to have any more babies. I had my uterusremoved. That was in 1988. I had other medical problems at that time as well. I had to
have a bladder operation—it seemed like everything was fallingout of me! One day I had an attack, doubling over in pain, avery sharp pain in the whole stomach. I was taken to a doctorwho diagnosed gallbladder and scheduled me for surgery.Unfortunately, after that surgery I had constant diarrhea. I alsohad high cholesterol. All my hormones had gone out of whack. My doctor at the time prescribed Premarin for me and also
Meridia, a diet pill for weight loss (I was up to a size 20). In anattempt to understand my failing health, I was reading a lot, andI got hold of some literature that was critical of Premarin. I sharedit with this doctor. She told me it was nonsense. She said that sinceI did not have a uterus, I needed estrogen. She changed myPremarin to an estradiol patch, another type of estrogen.182 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  I began waking up every morning with headaches. It got so
that I dreaded going to sleep at night because I knew that when Iwoke up I’d have this excruciating pain. I had no energy andstarted experiencing hot flashes. When I discussed these symptomswith my doctor and suggested that the estradiol patch and theMeridia might not be helping me, she made me feel like a failure.It was as though it was my fault that I could not lose weight. I was so worried about my failing health that I started
talking to everyone I met looking for advice. Through acompounding pharmacist I found my way to Dr. Platt. At our first meeting, Dr. Platt did a very thorough history on
me. He wanted to know everything about my medical history, myparents’ medical history, my sister, my husband, everything. Hehad me take a blood test on my first visit. He did a completehormone panel and, after looking over the results, explained whatwas going on in my body. He told me that the food I had beeneating was affecting my insulin levels. He explained what happensthroughout the day when you eat those kinds of foods. He could seefrom my history and my blood tests that I was already making toomuch estrogen and certainly didn’t need to take more. Dr. Plattwas concerned about my daughter as well, since my family has ahistory of breast cancer and uterine cancer. He told me to stoptaking the estradiol and the Meridia, and he put both me and mydaughter on natural progesterone. He told me that my other doctor wasn’t lying to me; it’s just
that she was misinformed about natural hormones. He also gaveme a book, 
Metabolic Solutions, that reviewed all the things that
he told me about. He said I was to commit myself to a programthat he would design for me. He said I would lose my weight, havemore energy, and my headaches and hot flashes would probably goaway too. A nutritional counselor in his office set a goal weight for me
and designed a meal plan that included shopping tips and foods to183 DOCT ORS DON’T ALWAYS LISTEN buy. He told me to wean myself off sugar and caffeine. The day
after I saw the counselor I was at work and I started to getweaker and sicker until by evening I thought I might be dying. Icalled the counselor, who had Dr. Platt call me back immediately.Dr. Platt reassured me that it was just my body going through adetoxification process from sugar and caffeine. He said I’d be a lotbetter the next day, and sure enough, he was right. I continue to go into Dr. Platt’s office once a week. When I go
in, they check my blood pressure and my urine to see how muchfat I am burning. They weigh me, and I get a B12 shot. It’s been easy to stay on the diet and I’ve lost 60 pounds. T oday
I don’t wake up with headaches any more—a miracle! Mydiarrhea’s gone, no headaches, no asthma, and I have energy now.People tell me all the time that I look slimmer. I really believe that the natural hormones have helped me the
most. I’m able to control my eating now because I understandwhen and why I get hungry. Candy and caffeine just don’t seemimportant to me anymore. I’m also not scared of getting out ofcontrol when I get to my goal weight. I used to be afraid ofreaching my goal weight, thinking I would just gain it all backand then some, just like before. I now rely on the nutritionalcounselors at Dr. Platt’s office because they always have goodadvice for me. They remind me that I’m going to be introducingcarbohydrates one at a time, slowly, and that they will monitor theeffects on me. I haven’t reached my goal weight yet, but I alreadyfeel successful
. CHILDBIRTH AND HEADACHES
Shirley’s headaches began after she gave birth to her first child. That’s because pregnancy and birth cause vast hormonalshifts in some women. Hormones affect every aspect of184 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  pregnancy. The most obvious example is women with low
progesterone and high estrogen suffering from morningsickness and miscarriages. During the second trimester, the placenta begins producing
copious quantities of progesterone. Progesterone is thefeel-good hormone, and that’s why we have the cliché of the“radiant” expectant mother as she nears childbirth. However,after a woman delivers, her progesterone level suddenlyplummets. At this point the cliché reverses itself: postpartumdepression is a common occurrence. In Shirley’s case, hernormally low progesterone levels sank even further after shegave birth, bringing on the headaches. She’d already had symptoms of asthma as a result of her low
progesterone, and naturally those symptoms got worse after thebirth of her child. Shirley reports feeling that her asthma gotworse as her weight increased. This is not surprising, since themost likely cause of her asthma was a high estrogen levelassociated with low progesterone. The more fat cells a personhas, usually the higher their estrogen levels. This, by the way,could be the reason for the higher incidence of breast cancerin obese women. Shirley’s feeling that it was harder and harder to control
her weight through dieting as she aged is something manypeople can identify with. People in their 40s often becomealarmed at how stubbornly fat clings to their bodies.Throughout their teens, 20s, and 30s, they were able to forcethemselves to shed a few pounds when they got desperateenough, but now nothing seems to work. In Shirley’s case, this was doubly true because she was
over-producing insulin. Anyone who responds well to ahigh-protein diet is over-producing insulin. The most commonreason why people over-produce insulin is that they are not185 DOCT ORS DON’T ALWAYS LISTEN producing enough progesterone, and as we get older
progesterone levels decrease. This means that in middle ageour bodies will produce more insulin. And insulin, as I’vesaid again and again, is the fat-storing hormone. SIGNS OF ESTROGEN DOMINANCE
Shirley’s medical profile told me in many different ways that she
was suffering from estrogen dominance. Very often, troublewith one’s gallbladder is a complication of estrogen dominance.The menstrual migraines were caused by estrogen. Herpear-shaped body type is the classic body type for someoneover-producing estrogen. MERIDIA FOR WEIGHT LOSS
—A FOOL’S ERRAND
Shirley was prescribed Meridia to help her lose weight. This was
an error. Meridia is, in most cases, completely ineffective forsignificant weight loss. Meridia is a combination of an SSRI (selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitor) and an NRI (norepinephrine reuptakeinhibitor). It was originally developed as an anti-depressant.When Phen/Fen was taken off the market, the manufacturersof Meridia decided to promote it for weight loss becauseMeridia affects the same neurotransmitters that Phen/Fen did. When the manufacturers of Meridia initially tried to get the
drug approved by the FDA, it was rejected. It caused too manyproblems with elevated blood pressure. So they cut the dosagein half to reduce the blood pressure problem. Needless to say,Meridia’s effectiveness for weight loss went down as well. The whole approach to weight loss in conventional186 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  medicine has been predicated on the theory that people eat too
much and that’s why they have a weight problem. The medicalcommunity, in my view, has been remiss in not addressing thetrue factors that cause weight gain. Meridia might be of some benefit in maintaining weight
loss because it can reduce severe cravings for food. However, itdoes not address getting rid of fat. The great majority ofover-weight people have hormone problems: primarily, toomuch insulin, too much estrogen, and an under-active thyroid.They cannot start burning fat until their hormones havebeen adjusted. PREMARIN/PROVERA
—THE UNQUESTIONED PROTOCOL
Shirley confesses that when she challenged her doctor about
prescribing Premarin, she was chided for doing so. This is verycommon. Estrogen is the one hormone gynecologists knowabout and believe in, and Premarin is a formulation they’re veryfamiliar with. It’s common for gynecologists to look askance atany question concerning Premarin’s effectiveness. Premarin is one of the largest-selling estrogen preparations
in the world—although sales dropped to half what they hadbeen after release of the Women’s Health Initiative in 2002.This is a drop of 10 million prescriptions per year—resultingin a decrease of 14,000 cases of breast cancer per year. At theturn of the last century, the incidence of breast cancer wasabout one case per 94 women; the present rate is about one inevery seven or eight women. This increase may be attributableto our friend estrogen. I have had women patients come back to me and report that
their doctors forbade them to take the natural bio-identical187 DOCT ORS DON’T ALWAYS LISTEN progesterone I had prescribed and sternly insisted that they
continue their estrogen replacement therapy. I’ve heard ofdoctors who told women to throw their progesterone creamin the trash. Some time ago, I had a 59-year-old woman in my office. When she was 52 she was started on Premarin and Provera. Byage 58 she had contracted breast cancer and they removedboth breasts. The doctors then prescribed what is called anEstring, which is a high dose of estradiol (one of the threetypes of estrogen) inserted vaginally. So now she had estrogensitting right next to her uterus. Keep in mind that estrogen isthe only known cause of cancer of the uterus. /Dswashoctors have to go back to listening to patients. /Tswashhere is no substitute for it. This woman’s sister had had cancer of the uterus, which
indicates that the woman was genetically predisposed tocontracting uterine cancer. Sitting there in my office with herhusband right next to her, she told me that she was due to haveanother Estring put in, as she has to have a new one insertedevery two months. She was arguing with me about how shewanted to have that Estring put back in. I asked, “Why wouldyou want to do that?” She replied that two gynecologists hadtold her that it’s safe. I was dumbfounded. “You’ve already donated both breasts;
you want to give them your uterus as well?” Her husbandcouldn’t believe her, either. But women have been brainwashedregarding the purported benefits of estrogen. Provera is just as harmful as estrogen. It is a synthetic prog-
estin, and although its chemical name is medroxyprogesterone, ithas no relationship to natural bio-identical progesterone. Many188 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  doctors unfortunately think Provera is the same as progesterone. Provera is damaging to blood vessels (like estrogen), is lipogenic(it creates fat just like estrogen), and also increases a woman’schance of getting breast cancer (just like estrogen). However, inmost cases it does prevent uterine cancer, which is why it is givento women taking Premarin who still have a uterus. HORMONE RECEPTOR SITES
Hormones travel through the bloodstream in minute quantities. When they reach a receptor site that fits them, they attach to itand are able to influence the cell they have attached to. Onewoman who is estrogen dominant (i.e., has high estrogen andlow progesterone) may have completely different symptoms fromanother woman who is also estrogen dominant because theirreceptor sites differ. Shirley developed asthma in her teenage years, a common
problem induced by estrogen not only in women but in menas well. Her asthma got worse as she got older, for severalreasons. Her progesterone levels were falling, and very likelyher estrogen levels were going up as she got fatter. Fat cellsproduce estrogen. As we have already seen, this may explain, atleast in part, why obese women are more prone to breastcancer than women of normal weight. Shirley apparently also has estrogen receptor sites in her
temporal arteries, which explains her migraine headaches. Manywomen have excess receptor sites in the uterus and breasts,prompting severe menstrual cramps and breast tendernessduring their periods. Later on, this intense stimulation leads touterine fibroids or endometriosis, fibrocystic disease of thebreasts or ovaries, and can result in uterine, ovarian, or breastcancer. None of these conditions occur when the body has189 DOCT ORS DON’T ALWAYS LISTEN enough natural progesterone to protect these organs. Shirley describes herself as having a pear-shaped figure. This is the case when the body is producing an over-abundance of two different hormones—insulin and estrogen.Insulin puts fat on around the waist, and estrogen puts fat onaround the hips, buttocks, and thighs. This is true for bothmen and women. People with excesses of insulin and estrogenoften have gallbladder problems as well. TAKING THE TIME TO LISTEN
T o this day Shirley remains angry about how she was treated by
the medical establishment. This is not unusual. Many patientstell me horror stories about being treated in a patronizingmanner and not listened to. Until there is a change in doctors’attitudes, patients will continue to be misdiagnosed, with theirsymptoms being addressed instead of the underlying cause.Doctors have to go back to listening to patients. There is nosubstitute for it. Shirley was obviously hormonally challenged. A basic
familiarity with natural bio-identical hormones on the part ofher earlier doctors would have allowed her to eliminate herasthma, which would have delighted her, to eliminate herheadaches, which would have amazed her, and to get rid of herfat, which would have pleased her. Needless to say, for Shirley, using bio-identical hormones
was nothing short of miraculous.190 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  BATTLING THE MEDICAL
ESTABLISHMENT —
MARGARET O.’S STORY
chapter TWENTY–THREE
Margaret O. is a well-educated woman, an accomplished musi-
cian and a teacher. She came to me at the age of 67, havingspent the previous 37 years seeking the solution to a seriousweight problem. She had been a size 22 for most of her adultlife, even though she was physically active and ate healthy foodsin reasonable quantities. But she had a hormonal profile thatmade her body store fat. I want you to hear her story because I see so many women
like her: well-educated, inquisitive, avid readers who studyhealth and medicine in an attempt to understand their ownbodies. Their weight problem isn’t their fault, but the medicalestablishment thwarts their honest efforts to break throughtheir difficulties. When I started gaining weight in my 30s I wanted to find out
why. I wasn’t eating any more than I had been before the weightgain, and my level of physical activity was the same. InstinctivelyI knew some other variable was at work here. At first I went to thedoctors at Kaiser Hospital, where I have my medical plan. Ithought they could help me. 191They did a series of tests on me and declared that I had an
under-active thyroid. That made sense to me and I was hopefulthat with thyroid medication my metabolism could be ratchetedup and my weight would start to go down. They prescribed thethyroid hormone Synthroid. I took it, but nothing happened. So I went back to Kaiser and told them I was still gaining
weight. They gave me the same tests over again, and they gave meanother prescription for Synthroid. It seems this was the only thingthey knew. When I went back a third time and told them Iwasn’t getting any results, they just looked at me strangely and toldme to eat less. From this experience I learned to harbor a healthy skepticism
about the medical profession. T oday I seek my own conclusions andI don’t take things at face value any more. Being an educatedperson, I began reading everything I could about how the bodymetabolizes food. Meanwhile, I tried every diet that came downthe pike. I tried Optifast, Shaklee, and many other diets. I wouldlose weight on each of these, but I never lost fat—always muscle.I would look at myself in the mirror after each of these diets andsee flesh just hanging on me. The diets were hard to stay on, andthey made me weak. I remember one time about six years ago: I wason a vacation in Hawaii after completing a diet that consisted ofeating nothing but protein drinks four times a day. There I was,hiking along this trail, and when our group came to a smallfissure on the trail everyone leaped across it. But I couldn’t get mybody to do it. I was that weak. Every time I came off one of thosediets, I gained back more than I had weighed before. This went onfor my entire adulthood. I got up to 240 pounds, and I am only5’1” tall. It became hard to move around and hard to go shopping.Clothes were a problem, so I either sewed or bought them from theNordstrom catalog. I was a size 22. One doesn’t find beautifulclothing in those sizes. The simple act of getting up from a chair192 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  or a sofa was hard for me. So was going to a restaurant and
sitting in a booth. I never knew whether I could fit into the booth. I went on like this for 37 years, seeking answers, talking to
people, trying diets, and joining support groups. Many times I gottired of searching and just let myself go. But even when I’d givenup and gotten sloppy again, there was always part of my mind sortof passively available, listening, waiting to find out aboutsomething that might make permanent weight loss possible. My first break came during menopause, when I read Dr. John
R. Lee’s 
What Your Doctor May Not T ell You about Menopause. This book had a lot of inside-track information about hormone
replacement therapy. It gave me information about hormones thatI had been seeking all my life. Dr. Lee was the first doctor to comeout saying that Premarin and all the synthetic estrogen hormonesbeing given to women at menopause were actually hurting them.He talked about how estrogen made the body store fat. I thought:At last! A clue! I began to believe that I had a hormone problem,one that went beyond my under-active thyroid. But I needed more specific information, and I needed a
doctor who could help me balance my hormones. I went to theendocrinologists at Kaiser, but that was a lost cause. They wantedto get me on Premarin as fast as they could! They are part of thatmedical establishment Dr. Lee writes about that is brainwashedabout Premarin. They certainly were not about to help me. I knew I needed to find an endocrinologist outside the Kaiser
system who agreed with Dr. Lee’s ideas and was ready to buck thewhole system regarding Premarin. But where do you find someonelike that? My entire life’s experience had taught me that doctorswere, for the most part, like Stepford wives; they were cheerleadersfor a system that reduced reality to a few simple clichés. I was alsoleery of exposing myself to more insults from doctors. Whenever Iwould go in for these consultations about my weight, I could seeexactly what these doctors were thinking. Whether they said it or193 BATTLING THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT not, they gave me the feeling that they thought I was some kind of
binge eater looking for a shortcut or a miracle. I started feeling trapped; I had the same discouraged, sort of
Kafkaesque sensation like I’d gotten back in my 30s. But then, over New Year’s, my husband and I were at our condo
in the desert and I saw Dr. Platt on television. Everything he saidmade so much sense that I made an appointment to see him! I brought my Kaiser folder to Dr. Platt, and he did a battery
of hormone tests. I found him easy to talk to. He also had meconsult with one of his nutritionists. At first I was cynical abouttalking to another nutritionist. I have been through a lot ofnutrition classes sponsored by Kaiser. That’s another insultingthing they do when you are looking for help with weight loss: theymake you take these classes. I’ve been through umpteen nutritionclasses and cholesterol classes and so forth. You name it and Kaiserwants to put you through it. Dr. Platt’s team is welcoming. They really have knowledge
that helps you and a way of sharing it that I understood. Dr. Platt told me that when I lost weight my cholesterol
would go down. My cholesterol was 293 when I went in there.Kaiser had wanted me to take Zocor for my high cholesterol,which is one of about three or four statin drugs on the market. ButI said no. Dr. Platt and I are working on my cholesterol withniacin and thyroid. Within the first two months of starting withDr. Platt, my cholesterol dropped 50 points. When the hormone tests came back, Dr. Platt and I sat down
and went over them. My low thyroid was still there, and Dr. Plattadjusted my thyroid, giving me T3 in addition to T4. Heexplained to me why the Synthroid by itself wasn’t helping me. Itmade me angry to think I had been faithfully taking this stuff for20 years and it had been doing nothing for me. As I lost weight I gained energy. It became easier to do just
about anything. So far I’ve lost 38 pounds. I weigh 202 now. But194 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  I’m wearing a size 16 and there’s no flab! I used to feel impaired,
but I’m not impaired anymore. I have no problems getting up offof the sofa or in and out of a restaurant booth. I’ve always been an active person even when it was a struggle
to move around. I still work in a gift shop every day, sing in achoir, volunteer at my T emple, teach piano privately at home, andcook with my husband every night. My ideal weight is 141. I amconfident I will get there. NEAR MISSES
Over the years I’ve seen a lot of patients like Margaret—very
smart people who try to approach their weight problemsintelligently but still can’t lose weight. I find their situationsespecially poignant. With all of their reading and detectivework, they’re nonetheless thwarted by our popular culture ofdieting and our uninformed medical system. Margaret madesome good inroads, but she just didn’t take the right path to getto where she wanted to go. She had read Dr. Lee and under-stood the value of natural progesterone. Unfortunately, the typeof progesterone he promotes is not in a high enough strength.He recommends the over-the-counter type of progesterone,which is 20 milligrams, and a woman generally needs about200 milligrams a day. Margaret also suspected that she had a thyroid problem,
and her doctors determined that it was true. But they placedher on the wrong thyroid medication. This is extremelycommon, as you’ve already seen with Brenda J. and Rhonda Y.She was given the T4-only hormone Synthroid when she alsoneeded T3. That’s the most common error made by conven-tional doctors when treating over-weight people with under-active thyroid glands. They don’t realize that people can have195 BATTLING THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT normal levels of T4 and still be hypothyroid. Few doctors look
at a patient’s T3 levels, T3 being the active hormone thatregulates metabolism. The logical question here is: Why don’tdoctors start looking at T3 levels so they can cover all the basesfor their patients suffering from hypothyroidism? YO-YO DIETING AND WEIGHT LOSS
Margaret is the type of person who has the most difficult
time losing weight. Her long history of repeated diets hadturned her body into an extremely efficient, sophisticatedfat-storing machine. The body does not know about weight loss—it only
understands the threat of starvation. Its main concern issurvival. When insufficient quantities of fuel are consumed, itnaturally thinks it may be facing starvation, so it begins tocreate and store fat in a highly efficient manner. This is an important point that bears repeating. People
interested in losing weight need to understand how their bodyoperates. The body likes fat. It likes to create it and hold ontoit and does not like to burn it. When people go on starvation weight loss programs, most
of the weight loss that occurs is muscle loss—the body doesnot want to burn fat when it is starving. Muscle weighs at leastthree times as much as fat, so people lose weight rapidly, whichmakes them happy. This happiness, unfortunately, is short-lived because there is a rapid regaining. Less muscle tissuemeans less room for carbohydrate (sugar) storage (as glycogen),so any excess is apt to be stored in the fat cells. And lessmuscle means less fat is burned, since muscle is the fat-burning tissue of the body.196 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  Added to this, the body becomes even more efficient at stor-
ing fat. The bottom line is: cutting calories is probably not thebest weight loss approach for long-term weight management. Fat is a very efficient fuel—it burns at nine calories per
gram—and the body wisely reserves its most efficient fuel forlast. A good example of this is Karen Carpenter, the singer whodied of anorexia nervosa. This was a woman who placed herbody in a continuous state of starvation. When they did herautopsy, they discovered she had almost no heart muscle. Herbody had eaten its most vital organ rather than give up its lastounce of fat. A MORE ENLIGHTENED APPROACH
Could anyone have been more proactive, determined, and
methodical in her search for weight management thanMargaret? And yet her search went on, unsuccessfully, for 37years. That’s how difficult it is to get help with obesity in thisculture! It is time to change our assumptions about whypeople’s bodies store fat. And it’s time to offer patients a moreenlightened and helpful approach to weight loss.197 BATTLING THE MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT WHY WE DON’T HA VE
PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
IN THIS COUNTRY
chapter TWENTY–FOUR
Preventive medicine is almost non-existent in this country. When you talk to some doctors about preventive medicine,they think you’re talking about giving flu shots. However, manypeople assume “preventive medicine” refers to preventing heartattacks, strokes, cancer, diabetes, and other serious conditions. If we look at statistics, it becomes clear that over the past
60 years the incidence of these medical conditions has notdiminished. Despite the proliferation of drugs and newmedical technology, nothing much has changed. NO PROFIT MOTIVE
Almost everything doctors learn in medical school about
treating patients is based on research done by drug companies.This is why most doctors have little basic knowledge of naturalhormones—drug companies cannot patent natural products.Even endocrinologists, who specialize in hormones, for themost part only feel comfortable using the synthetic hormonesproduced by drug companies, not natural bio-identical
199hormones that match the hormones produced by the body. Along these same lines, doctors learn little preventive
medicine in medical school because drug companies have nointerest in preventing disease—why should they? There’s noprofit for drug companies in treating the root causes of heartattacks, strokes, diabetes, and cancer. The entire medicalestablishment is geared toward treatment, not prevention. Forthe most part, drug companies develop drugs to treatsymptoms of disease. Antibiotics are the only drugs thatactually address and cure the disease itself. Even insurance companies—which have the most to gain
from doctors practicing effective preventive medicine—playinto this system by discounting the importance of properscreening procedures. By and large, insurance companies areloath to pay for simple screening tests, the kind that could helppatients head off diseases they might be prone to developing.When a doctor or patient requests coverage for a blood test orany other study, the insurance company normally responds byasking for a diagnosis to support the doctor’s reason for doingthe test. Well, if there is a diagnosis, the patient already has the
disease. The whole point of screening is to prevent the diseasefrom coming on in the first place. There is a blood test called CA-125 that allows doctors to
screen for cancer of the ovaries. This condition, found inone out of every 50 women, is 100 percent curable ifdiagnosed early and almost 100 percent fatal after it hasspread. Insurance companies will not cover a CA-125 as ascreening test but will pay for it once you have the condition. This is especially galling in light of how eager the medical
community is to place women on estrogen, a substance thatplaces them at serious risk for cancer of the ovaries. Estrogen isstill one of the largest-selling drugs in the world. You would200 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  think a simple, inexpensive test for cancer of the ovaries would
be standard in a society that prescribes estrogen with suchregularity. However, for reasons I cannot decipher, insurancecompanies will pay for a PSA test to screen for prostate cancer,but not for a CA-125 test. STROKES AND HEART DISEASE
Heart attacks are the number one cause of death in both men
and women. This would, of course, be a prime area to exercisepreventive medicine. Yet in spite of all the measures beingimplemented—coronary bypass surgery, the placing of stents,angioplasty, the use of drugs to lower cholesterol, stop-smokingcampaigns, dieting and exercise programs, to mention several—there has been no change in the cardiovascular mortality ratesince 1950. Is it possible that we are not addressing the major causes of
cardiovascular disease? Everybody has heard about cholesterol—the good (HDL)
and the bad (LDL). Lipitor and Zocor, which reducecholesterol levels, are now the largest-selling drugs worldwide.This fact has been greatly enhanced by the tendency to keeplowering the upper limit of “normal” for total cholesterol.When I was in medical school, a normal cholesterol level couldbe as high as 300. This number has been continuously loweredto the latest “normal” level of 180. Now there is talk oflowering the level to 160, which will allow doctors to placechildren on these drugs. Interestingly, it has never been demonstrated convincingly
that lowering cholesterol prevents coronary artery disease, andsome studies indicate that more people who have heart attackshave low cholesterol rather than high cholesterol. There is,201 WHY WE DON’T HAVE PREVENTIVE MEDICINE however, a much more serious risk factor that the medical
community has largely ignored—the homocysteine level. THE HIDDEN ENEMY
Homocysteine is found in everybody’s bloodstream. It is a
breakdown product of methionine, an amino acid. In highlevels it damages blood vessels and causes them to be sticky—arisk factor for cholesterol plaques and blood clots. It predisposesa person not only to heart attacks but to strokes, Alzheimer’sdisease, Parkinson’s disease, and osteoporosis, and it shortensthe lifespan. Certainly, it’s an important risk factor to screen for.However, the treatment consists of a combination of three Bvitamins—folic acid, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6—alongwith trimethylglycine, all natural products of little benefit todrug companies. Once again, it seems that if drug companies are not
interested, doctors are rarely informed. Even if they areinformed, insurance companies do not pay for the test unlessthere is an underlying diagnosis to support doing the test. Another risk factor that is often not considered is called
C-reactive protein (C-RP). This is a marker for inflamma-tion in the coronary arteries—again, a situation predispos-ing to plaque formation and blood clots. Women withelevated C-RP levels are at significant risk of sudden death,and this element is considered a much greater risk factorthan a high LDL cholesterol. As an aside, elevations of C-RP can also be a marker for
cancer of the colon and for macular degeneration, the numberone cause of adult-onset blindness. Certainly, this is ascreening test that should be performed, but it is rarely done.Here too, the treatment of elevated levels often incorporates202 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  the use of natural antioxidants, which are, again, substances
not promoted by pharmaceutical companies. I am a realist. As most people are aware, business runs this
world. The medical system is a multi-trillion-dollar-a-yearindustry that sadly seems to be thriving on disease and illness,not wellness. When studies are publicized defaming the health benefits
of natural products, such as vitamin E or DHEA, it is worthconsidering the source. A recent study, for instance, concludedthat treating elevated homocysteine levels has no clinicalbenefit. However, reading the actual study reveals that theresearchers did not lower the levels significantly enough tohave any benefit. Those studies that show no benefit, or evenharm, from certain vitamins usually involve synthetic vita-mins, which the body is unable to recognize. THE MESSAGE
People are discovering that in many cases, in order to be
healthy, they have to become pro-active. They have to take theirhealth into their own hands. They cannot fully rely on a healthsystem that is not fully committed to their being healthy. It is my conviction that over time more and more doctors
will be tuned into the use of natural hormones to prevent andheal illnesses and to screen for other preventable disorders.However, this will not happen until patients demand betterapproaches to their health.203 WHY WE DON’T HAVE PREVENTIVE MEDICINE  BIO-IDENTICAL ISSUES  
Currently there is controversy surrounding bio-identical
hormones regarding their safety and efficacy. The AmericanMedical Association (AMA) has denounced them; pharma-ceutical companies want the Federal Drug Administration(FDA) to shut down compounding pharmacies. Criticism includes the claims that bio-identical hormones
are not FDA-approved and there are no long-term studiesdemonstrating their efficacy. Additionally, people beinginterviewed as experts, though they lack experience utilizingthese products, contend that bio-identical hormones do notget absorbed and they provide no benefits. Wyeth, the phar-maceutical company that makes Premarin and Provera, hassaid that bio-identical hormones are not safe. Considering thedangers of Premarin and Provera established by the Women’sHealth Initiative, this is not worth commenting upon. Let me address some of these issues. Bio-identical hormones are manufactured by traditional
pharmaceutical companies. They have a natural base, usuallysoy or yam, and are sent in the form of powders tocompounding pharmacies, where they are then made intocreams, capsules, gels, troches, and suppositories. All productsmanufactured by pharmaceutical companies are approved by
205the FDA, which dispels one of the criticisms. Upjohn Pharmaceuticals has been manufacturing
bio-identical hormone products for 70 years—to say theyhave not been around long enough to assess their safetyis absurd. Many studies indicating the benefits of bio-identical
hormones have in fact been published, albeit not in thetraditional medical journals that are basically bought and paidfor by drug companies. As for criticism that these products aren’t effective, I find
nothing more rewarding than hearing one of my patients state,after being introduced to bio-identical hormones, that theyhave never felt better. This is a statement that traditionaldoctors rarely hear. T o know if bio-identical hormones work,I just need to listen to, and observe, my patients. THE REAL CONTROVERSY
It is my feeling that the actual concern when it comes to
hormone replacement therapy is not being addressed. Thedebate is mainly revolving around the type of estrogenprescribed for women during menopause—natural versussynthetic, and, if natural, urine-based versus plant-based. However, it is my feeling the debate should be centered not
on the type of estrogen a woman should receive, but onwhether estrogen should be replaced at all. As mentionedthroughout this book, women never stop making estrogen.They simply produce smaller amounts as they get older.Considering the risk of serious side effects associated withestrogen, if a woman in menopause is not trying to getpregnant, why try to increase her estrogen levels unnecessarily? Please remember, the fact that a hormone is bio-identical206 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  does not confer safety in and of itself. It still has to be
used appropriately and only when necessary, just like anyother medication. WHAT IT’S ALL ABOUT
Until doctors get back to treating their patients instead of lab
tests, until they start listening to patients instead of drugcompanies, and until they open themselves to a more logicaland healthful approach to medicine, we are destined to remainon the bottom of the list of civilized countries when it comes tohealth care. Not surprisingly, many physicians are becoming disen-
chanted with the way medicine is practiced. They recognizethat they are losing control. Because of decreasing reimburse-ments and higher overhead costs, they are forced to see moreand more patients per hour and cannot provide the time theirpatients may need. Insurance companies dictate to them therules about what’s covered—or more accurately, what’s notcovered. Drug companies besiege doctors with self-servinginformation, leading to more and more prescriptions for morecomplex medications whose side effect profiles are not clearlyestablished. This in turn leads to drug interactions, unnecessaryhospitalizations, and, not uncommonly, death. A recent poll among primary care physicians (family
practitioners and internists) indicated that 80 percent wouldnot to go medical school again, given the choice. Understandably, many doctors are becoming interested in
a different type of practice. We are seeing a rise in practicesdesignated as boutique, concierge-type offerings, which areable to provide a more personalized service—at a much highercost. However, this is still a form of traditional medicine.207 BIO-IDENTICAL ISSUES At the same time, more physicians are getting involved
with bio-identical hormone therapy. They should under-stand however, that a weekend seminar in Las Vegas does notbegin to cover the intricacies involved in bringing patientsinto hormonal balance. Nevertheless, as time goes on andphysicians become more knowledgeable about bio-identicalhormones and how the body functions, a whole new era inhealth care will be ushered in. The main force driving thisrevolution will be patients who simply want to feel better.208 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  A philosopher once said
that all new ideas must go through three phases. First, they are ridiculed. Next, they are viciously attacked. Years later, they are accepted as self-evident truths. Then people say, “Oh yes, we’ve known this all along.”FOR MORE INFORMATION  
The International Academy of
Compounding Pharmacists
P .O. Box 1365, Sugar Land, TX 77487
T oll-Free Referral Line—800.927 .4227
referrals for all continents
Phone—281.933.8400   Fax—281.495.0602
Website—www.iacprx.org   Email—iacpinfo@iacprx.org
Pharmacy Compounding 
Accreditation Board
P .O. Box 282, 106 S. Dodge Street, Algona, IA 50511
Phone—515.341.1250   Website—www.pcab.info
Platt Medical Center
72-785 Frank Sinatra Dr., Ste.100, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
Phone—877.DR.PLATTWebsite—www.drplatt.com Email—questions@drplatt.com
211INDEX
213Acid reflux, 36, 42, 43
Actonel, 68ADD/ADHD, 33, 57, 65, 
109–110, 129, 131–139, 142–143, 147
Adrenal gland, 75, 77, 89, 101, 
129, 173
Adrenaline, 33, 65, 66, 110, 
129, 130, 131, 132, 135, 136, 137, 138, 162, 173
Afternoon fatigue, 107, 108, 
134, 136, 143
Allergies, 39, 41, 43, 44Alzheimer’s disease, 22, 73, 76, 
84, 88, 99, 103, 104, 108, 120, 151, 202
Andropause, 103–113Anger, 23–24, 39, 43, 61–62, 
63–64, 65, 66, 110, 136, 137, 138, 157Anti-depressants, 40, 43, 44, 
45, 54, 56, 123, 146, 161–162, 186 
Anti-inflammatory drugs, 164Armour, 33Aromatase inhibitor, 106Arthritis, 23, 76, 84, 89, 101, 
178
Asthma, 39, 40–41, 43, 44, 84, 
87, 93, 108–109, 138, 145, 146, 181–184, 185, 189, 190
Atenolol, 31, 162Autism, 137Auto-immune disease, 76, 84
Beta-blockers, 31, 162–163
BiEst cream, 96, 97Binova, 68Bio-identical, definition of, xvii, 
205–206214 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES 
Chronic fatigue, 13, 40, 76
Chrysin, 106Coenzyme Q-10, 30, 65, 
150–151, 152, 164
Colon cancer, 19, 23, 72, 84, 
85, 105, 108, 110, 202 
Congestive heart failure (CHF), 
88, 104, 121, 178
Coronary artery disease, 31, 69, 
82, 103, 169, 201
Cortisol, 23, 129, 173–174Cramps. Seemenstrual cramps 
C-reaction protein (C-RP), 202
Crestor, 151, 164
Cytomel, 33
Depakote, 125, 128
Depression, 14, 37, 39, 42, 43, 
44, 76, 103, 104, 108, 109, 146, 162
postpartum, 
see postpar-
tum depression
Desipramine, 162DEXA scan, 67–69DHEA, 70, 71, 75–77, 86, 87, 
89, 91, 96, 97, 100–102, 110–111, 203
7-keto, 76, 102
Diabetes, adult-onset (type II), 
88, 115–121, 136, 138, 142, 143, 146, 166, 178, 199, 200Bi-polar, 125, 27, 128, 130, 
146, 147
Birth control pills, 19, 70, 
144–145
Brain, 17, 22, 56, 75, 95, 109, 
127, 128, 136, 137, 146, 151, 152, 162
brain fatigue, and blood sugar, 39, 43, 107, 131, 132, 135, 138brain fog, 87
Breast cancer, 6, 7, 19, 21, 23, 
72, 75, 76, 81, 82, 84, 85, 89, 146, 163, 179, 185, 187, 188, 189
Breast tenderness, 70, 84, 87, 
93, 94, 142, 189
Breathing exercise, 66
CA-125, 200–201
Calcium, 68, 69–70, 73Cancer: breast; cervical; colon; 
ovarian; prostate; uterine; vaginal. See individual listings
Celexa, 162
Cellulite, 5, 84, 163Cerebrovascular disease, 82Cervical cancer, 19, 84Cholesterol, 30–31, 32, 42, 89, 
100, 101, 107, 120, 149–152, 169, 172, 194, 201, 202Estrone, 21
Exercise, 15, 72, 74, 116, 144, 
168, 174
Fat cells, 118–119, 120, 150, 
162, 170, 179, 185, 189
Fat metabolism, 18, 26, 29, 49, 
51, 76, 86, 87, 89, 98, 107, 118, 120, 123, 132, 142, 144, 145, 161, 162, 163, 164, 167, 168, 169–170, 171, 186, 187, 189, 190
Fatigue, 13, 14, 16, 18, 24, 32, 
35–45, 56, 59, 63, 65, 76, 107, 119, 135
Fertility, 94–95Fibrocystic disease, 20, 84, 87, 
142–143, 189
Fibroids, 14, 18, 20, 43, 50, 84, 
87, 138, 142, 146, 189
Fibromyalgia, 23–24, 39, 43, 
44, 59–66, 110, 136, 138, 155, 157, 159
Fosamax, 68
Gallbladder, 84, 181–182, 186, 
190
Gluconeogenesis, 132
Glucophage, 119, 174Glycogen, 169, 174, 196
Hay fever, 41Diet, the, 11, 15, 38, 49, 54, 
62, 117, 118, 121, 133, 135, 155, 157, 182, 184
Dieting, 10–11, 51, 64, 
115–116, 121, 167–168, 171, 185, 192–193, 196–197
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), 
105–106, 107
Diuretics, 164D-ribose, 65
Effexor, 125, 128, 162
Elavil, 162Endometriosis, 20, 35, 43, 84, 
87, 138, 146, 189
Estradiol, 21, 76, 96, 97, 105, 
106, 107, 110, 111, 112, 182–183, 188
Estriol, 21, 96, 97Estrogen, 4–5, 13–27, 41, 
43–44, 50–51, 55, 68, 70, 71, 76, 77, 80, 81–88, 89, 91, 93, 94, 96–98, 100, 144, 146, 161, 163, 175, 179, 182–183, 185, 187–190, 193, 200–201, 206–207
in men, 76, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 111–112, 117, 120, 153, 157
Estrogen dominance, 13–27, 
43–44, 50–51, 77, 84, 93, 120, 132, 138, 142–143, 146, 186, 189215 INDEX 216 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES 
44, 55, 88, 101, 107, 108, 
109, 110, 118–120, 128, 135, 136, 138, 142–143, 150, 168–171, 172, 173, 174–175, 179, 185–186, 187, 190
overproduction of, 
see
hyperinsulinemia
Irregular periods, 80, 141
Kegel maneuver, 100
Ketostix, 172–173
Lee, John, M.D., 20, 193, 195
Lescol, 151, 164Levothyroxine, 30Levoxyl, 30, 32, 33Lexapro, 162Libido (sex drive), 37, 44, 62, 
71, 76, 80, 88, 99, 100, 103, 104–105, 106, 118, 120
Lipitor, 30, 150, 164, 201Lipogenic (fat-creating)
hormones, 5, 22, 84, 123, 
128, 161, 163, 175, 189 
Lithium, 125, 128Lopressor, 31, 162
Lupron, 112
Luteinizing hormone (LH), 25, 
86
Lycopene, 73, 112Heart, 5, 21, 31, 32, 75, 79, 
82, 84, 88, 89, 98, 104, 121, 
150, 151–152, 157, 163, 169, 178, 197, 199, 200, 
201, 202
High blood pressure, 36, 42, 
164
Homocysteine, 21, 202–203Hot flashes, 16, 24–25, 80, 86, 
87, 89, 96, 97, 100, 183
Human growth hormone 
(HGH), 101, 177–179
Hyperinsulinemia, 11, 18, 39, 
42, 55, 107, 109, 110, 
118–120, 128, 129, 131–132, 142–143, 144, 145, 150, 153, 157, 164, 171
Hypertension, 166Hypoglycemia, 39, 44, 107, 
109, 110, 119–120, 129, 131–132, 134, 135, 136, 143
and adrenaline, 110, 129, 131, 135
Hypothalamus, 86Hysterectomy, 14, 18, 23, 80, 
188
Insulin-like growth factor 
(IGF-1), 179
Inderal, 48–49, 162Insulin, 11, 18, 22, 23, 42, 43,  217 INDEX 
Obesity, 55–56, 88, 118, 120, 
121, 141, 153–159, 163, 165–175, 182–184, 185, 191–197
Osteopenia, 67–70Osteoporosis, 5, 19–20, 22, 41, 
67–74, 75, 81, 87, 88, 98, 103, 104, 108–109, 120, 122
Ovarian cancer, 19, 23, 84, 85, 
189, 200–201
Parkinson’s disease, 76, 151, 
202 
Paxil, 37, 39, 40, 44, 125, 128, 
162
Perimenopause, 5, 23, 76, 86Pituitary gland, 25, 31, 42, 86, 
96, 97, 144, 178
PMS (premenstrual syndrome), 
70, 80, 84, 87, 93, 94, 142, 145
Polycystic ovarian syndrome 
(PCOS), 144, 145
Postpartum depression, 53–57, 
94, 146, 185
Pravachol, 151, 164
Prednisone, 40, 41, 43, 44
Pregnancy, 18, 35, 55, 56–57, 
84, 86, 93, 94–95, 97, 98, 142, 145, 146, 179, 184–185, 206Macular degeneration, 106, 202
Magnesium, 65, 70, 73Melatonin, 71–72Memory, 22, 29, 32, 76, 151, 
152
Menopause, 4–5, 8, 20, 23, 47, 
48–49, 51, 68, 79–89, 91–93, 96–102, 163, 179, 193, 206
Menstrual bleeding, 93Menstrual cramps, 70, 80, 84, 
87, 93, 94, 138, 141, 142, 144, 145, 189
Menstrual headaches, 101
Meridia, 182–183, 186–187Metformin, 119, 174Mevacor, 151, 164Migraine headache, 19, 22, 
47–51, 84, 87, 93, 138, 141, 143, 145, 146, 186, 189
Miscarriage, 19, 43, 94, 95, 
146, 185
Morning sickness, 19, 43, 56, 
146
Multiple sclerosis (MS), 22, 73
Neuropathy, 22
Night sweats, 25, 86, 87, 96, 
97, 100, 154
Norpramin, 162 218 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES 
Saw palmetto, 106
Selective serotonin reuptake 
inhibitor (SSRI), 162, 186
Selenium, 112Sexual dysfunction. Seelibido 
Sleep, 14, 17, 43, 59, 61–62, 
71, 76, 155, 169, 183
Statin drugs, 30, 150–151, 152, 
164
Stress, 64, 65, 72, 77, 101, 128, 
129–130, 173–174
Strokes, 5, 21, 50, 79, 82, 84, 
199, 200, 201, 202
Somers, Suzanne, xvi, 83–85, 
92, 98
Syndrome X, 120, 150, 170, 
172, 174
Synthroid, 14, 15, 27, 30, 32, 
33, 38, 40, 41, 192, 194, 195
Tamoxifen, 19, 112
T estosterone, 25, 37, 62, 
70–71, 76, 86, 87, 88, 89, 
91, 96, 97, 98–100, 102, 
103–107, 111–112, 117, 120–121, 144, 155
Thyroid, 14, 16, 18, 23, 26–27, 
29–33, 37–38, 39, 41–42, 
43–44, 49, 51, 54, 56, 62, 64–65, 118, 135, 144, 146, 
149, 155, 162, 164, 174, 175, 187, 192, 193, 194, 195–196Premarin, 12, 14–16, 17, 23, 
24–25, 68, 81–83, 86, 97, 
182, 187–189, 193, 205
Prevacid, 40, 42Progesterone, 16, 18–20, 21, 
22–23, 25, 26, 33, 39, 40–41, 42–44, 50–51, 54, 55, 57, 62, 65, 70, 71, 77, 80, 85, 87–88, 91, 92–93, 
94–95, 96–97, 107–110, 
111, 113, 117–118, 120, 128–129, 132, 133–134, 135, 138, 142–143, 144, 145, 146, 155, 157, 170, 174, 183, 185–186, 188, 189, 190, 195
Progestin, 19, 163, 188Prostate, 106–107Prostate cancer, 6, 23, 69, 72, 
75, 77, 103, 105, 108, 110, 111–112, 179, 201
Provera, 81–82, 85, 163, 
187–189, 205
Prozac, 161, 162Pygeum, 106
Receptor sites, 9, 21, 22, 50, 
76, 88, 93, 98, 104, 110, 121, 189
Restless leg syndrome (RLS), 
110, 136, 138
Rudman, Daniel, M.D., 177 219 INDEX 
Ziac, 31, 162
Zinc, 106, 112Zocor, 30, 150, 152, 164, 194, 
201
Zoloft, 162Thyroid stimulating hormone 
(TSH), 31–32, 42
Thyrolar, 33T emporamandibular joint pain 
(TMJ), 24, 63
Urinary incontinence, 88, 
99–100
Uterine cancer, 19, 77, 81, 84, 
85, 112, 163, 188, 189 
Vaginal cancer, 19, 84
Vaginal dryness, 21, 87, 97
Vioxx, 151–152
Vitamin B, 202Vitamin D, 72–73, 112, 113Vitamin E, 112Vitamin K, 73Vytorin, 151, 164
Weight loss, 10–11, 18, 42, 44, 
48, 49, 51, 54–55, 56, 64, 98, 101, 115, 116, 117, 123, 
127, 128, 153–159, 161–164, 165–175, 181–184, 186–187, 191–197
Wellbutrin, 162
Wilson, Robert, M.D., 80Women’s Health Initiative, 5, 
82–83, 187, 205
The_Miracle_of_Bioidentical_Hormones_by_Platt.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Peoplewith hyperinsulinemia—which is perhaps the majority ofpeople with weight problems—will not be successful on thismeal plan. I had a patient for whom a half cup of split pea soupwould prevent her from burning fat for seven days. For somepeople, one piece of bread, one carrot stick, or one yam willprevent fat-burning for three days. Other low-carbohydrate plans give people the impression
they can eat as much protein as they want. But this is misleading. The body cannot store protein. Any excess protein the bodycan’t use or eliminate is converted into sugar for fat storage. In this situation, you can be burning fat (i. e. , be in ketosis)and be storing fat at the same rate, and you will not belosing weight. 171 PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON
WEIGHT LOSS
In order for the body to burn fat, you have to feed it and
water it. The first requirement means that you cannot skipany meals. The body requires fuel 24 hours a day: your heartis beating, you’re breathing, and there are thousands ofchemical reactions occurring all of the time. When you skipbreakfast, you are going without fuel for 15 hours. Inresponse, the body will automatically store fat for the next 24hours. So even if you are not hungry in the morning, it’sprobably wisest to eat. The other requirement is water. Fifty percent of your
body is water. You cannot burn fat without water. Keep an eyeon the color of your urine. If it’s yellow, you’re dehydrated. Drink more water. T ry to get your urine as clear as possible. Alcohol does not enhance weight loss. The body likes
alcohol as a fuel. It’s an easy fuel to burn, and it burns at sevencalories per gram, almost as much as fat. Given the choice, thebody will always burn alcohol before fat. The bottom line is:if you want your body to burn fat, don’t give it alcohol. There is an old wives’ tale that says if you want to lose
weight, you have to give up coffee. In actuality, caffeine maystimulate insulin production, though not in everybody. People with Syndrome X (high insulin, high triglycerides, andlow HDL cholesterol) traditionally have the worst problemwith caffeine in terms of insulin. T o find out whether you are burning fat, you can use
urine-testing strips called Ketostix, which are available inmost drugstores. The end-stage of fat metabolism producesketone bodies, and these are partially eliminated through thekidneys. If you have ketone bodies in your urine, the Ketostixwill change color, indicating you are burning fat. Everyone’s172 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  metabolism is different, so using Ketostix will help you to find
out what you can get away with in your meal plan. CORTISOL AND WEIGHT
Recently, there has been a lot of attention on the relationship
between cortisol and fat. Listening to the advertisements on theradio and television, one could almost surmise that this is theonly cause of weight problems. Let me try to put this subject inperspective. The body’s main function in life is survival. Therefore, the body has become extremely efficient over theyears at creating and storing fat, which it considers the mostimportant fuel for survival. The adrenal glands also aid in survival, since in times of
extreme stress they produce hormones that help the bodyeither fight a predator or escape. This system worked prettywell in the caveman days. After a cave person saw a saber-toothed tiger, his or her adrenal glands would produce cortisol,which would raise sugar levels to give the muscles energy forfight or flight. They would also release adrenaline to giveadditional energy, or to stimulate fat cells to release fat for evenmore energy. However, this system is set up for a stress reactionlasting about ten minutes. In this day and age, people are subjected to stress
continuously—at work, while driving, meeting deadlines,and so on. In these situations, the adrenal glands may becontinuously putting out cortisol, which is continuouslyraising sugar levels, which is continuously raising insulinlevels, which is continuously creating fat. Whether or not cortisol is a major source of weight
problems in people is not entirely clear. Suffice to say, however,that high cortisol levels do not promote weight loss. 173 PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS  Stress is never good for the body. The more in balance you
are with your hormones and your environment, the healthieryou will be. Look for areas in your life that are giving younegative energy and eliminate them. Eliminate timeconstraints, if you can. Say “no” to road rage. One last point: exercise is a great way to reduce excess
adrenal hormones and reduce stress, and maybe help withweight loss. THE MAINTENANCE PHASE
In my practice, when patients reach their goal weight, they
enter the second phase of the program, which is geared towardpreventing fat from returning to the body. As long as a personlimits the amount of carbohydrates to the amount of sugarrequired by muscle tissue, excess carbohydrates will not bestored as fat. In this regard, the amount of exercise a personengages in is the main determinant of weight maintenance. Thebody’s priority is to replace any sugar that the muscles haveburned with sugar—it’s a survival thing. The more sugar(as glycogen) the muscles have burned, the more thecarbohydrates you eat will go into muscle rather than beingstored as fat. If people do not want to exercise, they have to be more
aware of their carbohydrate intake. People who produce excessinsulin because of Syndrome X may require medication (e. g. ,metformin, also known as Glucophage) or supplements (e.
The body converts excess protein into sugar for fat storage, and the body may not be able to burn fat.
What is the main reason why some people may not be successful on a low-carbohydrate diet?
It produces human growth hormone (HGH).
What is the primary role of the pituitary gland?
It does not address the root causes of weight gain and may not be effective in the long run.
What is the main issue with using Meridia for weight loss?
The author believes that the medical establishment is not listening to patients and is more interested in treating symptoms rather than addressing the root causes of diseases.
What is the author's view on the medical establishment?
The author is cautious and suggests that HGH may be illegal to use for anti-aging purposes.
What is the author's stance on the use of HGH for anti-aging?
The author emphasizes the importance of understanding how the body operates and the need to address the underlying causes of weight gain, rather than just treating the symptoms.
What is the author's view on the importance of understanding how the body operates?