Iron is a well-known essential mineral that plays key roles in a variety of important processes in your body. You’ve probably been told by your parents or doctors about the dangers of iron deficiency, especially if you’re a woman. Perhaps the most important of the warnings is that without iron, your body wouldn’t make enough hemoglobin and myoglobin. And without these proteins? Your body wouldn’t get enough oxygen.
In a nutshell, iron is essential for life! Humans aren’t the only organisms that depend on iron either. Plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria rely on iron to transport oxygen and produce energy. Many bacteria and fungi even steal iron from their hosts.
So iron seems innocent enough. But can the phrase “too much of a good thing” apply to this highly desirable mineral? For people with hemochromatosis, the answer is “yes.” In fact, too much iron can be deadly. To find out why, we’ll take a deep dive into hemochromatosis.
What is Hemochromatosis?
Hemochromatosis, an iron overload disease, is one of the most common genetic diseases in the U.S., affecting as many as 1 out of every 200 Americans. There are four types of hemochromatosis, which are classified based on the age of onset and the genes involved:
- Type 1: Classic hemochromatosis, also known as hereditary hemochromatosis, HFE gene
- Type 2: Juvenile-onset hemochromatosis, HJV or HAMP gene
- Type 3: Transferrin receptor 2-related hereditary hemochromatosis, TFR2 gene
- Type 4: Ferroportin disease, SLC40A1 gene
Of the 4 types of hemochromatosis, types 1 through 3 are inherited in an autosomal recessive manner, and type 4 in an autosomal dominant pattern. An autosomal recessive inheritance pattern means that it typically takes two copies of the mutation in order for someone to be affected by the disorder. People with only one copy are called “carriers” of the gene and are thus unaffected. However, as we’ll see later, this may not always be the case.
For this article, we’ll focus on the most common type of hemochromatosis: Hereditary (type 1) hemochromatosis, which is mainly caused by mutations in the HFE gene on chromosome 6. Here’s an interesting side note: Unlike many other protein names, HFE is not an abbreviation of its official name, hemochromatosis. Instead, it stands of High Iron (chemical symbol: Fe). Creative, right?
The HFE gene encodes the HFE protein, which regulates the production of hepcidin. As the master regulator of iron homeostasis in the body, hepcidin acts by binding and degrading the transmembrane protein ferroportin to keep it from releasing too much iron into the bloodstream. However, when mutations in the HFE gene disrupt expression of hepcidin, too much iron can be released. Transferrin, which captures iron in plasma for transport into cells throughout the body, becomes highly saturated and excess iron is deposited into the liver.
Excess iron can have toxic effects due to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). And since our bodies have no way to excrete iron, you can see why iron levels are so tightly regulated.
What Causes Hereditary Hemochromatosis?
Our bodies typically absorb between 5% to 35% of iron from our diet. However, when mutations are present in the HFE gene, there is no negative feedback mechanism to tell the body to stop absorbing iron. The main HFE mutations involved are:
- C282Y
- H63D
- S65C
As mentioned in the previous section, hereditary hemochromatosis is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern. Knowing this, there are 3 ways that these mutations can be present:
- Homozygous: 2 copies of the mutation (Ex: C282Y/C282Y or H63D/H63D)
- Compound Heterozygous: 1 copy of C282Y and H63D each (C282Y/H63D)
- Heterozygous: 1 copy of either C282Y or H63D (Ex: C282Y/normal or H63D/normal)
Doctors often tell patients with hemochromatosis that there is no need to treat if they are not homozygous for the C282Y mutations. Indeed, the most severe cases of clinical iron overload are seen in C282Y homozygotes, and research studies have shown that C282Y/H63D compound heterozygotes have a lower risk of hemochromatosis-related morbidity. However, about 15% of the cases are compound heterozygotes or heterozygotes.
So if you’re carrier of the HFE mutations, you are still at risk of developing symptoms or complications from iron overload.
17 Symptoms of Hemochromatosis
Although hereditary hemochromatosis is present at birth, symptoms of hemochromatosis typically don’t occur until middle age – usually between 40 and 60 in men and after 50 in women. In its early stages, the symptoms of hemochromatosis are diverse and vague, so both patients and doctors mistakenly attribute them to other common illnesses, to menopause for women, or to “just getting old.”
To avoid a delayed or incorrect diagnosis, it’s important to be aware of the symptoms of hemochromatosis:
- Stomach pain, nausea
- Fatigue
- Joint pain
- Headache, dizziness
- Loss of sex drive
- Loss of body hair
- Lack of energy
- General weakness
- Weight loss
- Memory fog
- Irregular heart beat
- Restlessness
- Increased sensitivity to heat or cold
- Diabetes
- Impotence
- Insomnia
- Abnormal coloring of the skin (gray or bronze)
As a functional medicine practitioner, I teach patients that everything in our body is connected to one another. So it’s only natural that iron overload can also impact our emotional and mental well-being. Indeed, studies have shown that iron overload is associated with depression, irritability, and mood swings.
Menopause and Hemochromatosis – Is There A Link?
As I pointed out earlier, it appears that men are affected earlier and more commonly by hemochromatosis than women are. Many scientists and doctors believed (and still believe) that this occurs because women have an innate mechanism for shedding the excess iron – menstruation. Since men don’t lose blood every month, it only made sense that they would experience iron overload before women. And once women reach menopause and stop menstruating, that’s when they start experiencing symptoms of hemochromatosis.
This hypothesis was tested in a 1997 study that examined 176 women and 176 men with hemochromatosis. The researchers did find that women who stopped menstruating before the age of 50 (the average age of menopause) had higher iron buildup in their livers than women who continued having periods after 50.
However, they did not find that there was a difference in the age of symptom onset between men and women (48 and 50 respectively). And although men were shown to develop diabetes and cirrhosis more often, women were not immune to them as previously thought.
Here’s what I think was perhaps the most interesting finding of this study. The researchers concluded that although homozygous hemochromatosis is less common in women, menstruation and pregnancy did not appear to have any effect on the development of clinical symptoms. Therefore, doctors should suspect hemochromatosis in women with unexplained symptoms that are compatible with the disease to avoid delayed diagnosis and progressive tissue damage.
Effects of Hemochromatosis on Your Organs
From the list of symptoms above, it’s clear that hereditary hemochromatosis can affect multiple organ systems. In some cases, the following complications may be the first sign of hemochromatosis. However, not everyone will develop complications.
Here, we’ll delve a little bit deeper into the organs that are primarily affected by this disease.
The Liver & Hemochromatosis
Your liver is a major storage organ of iron. And as the major site of iron storage, the liver can easily fall victim to iron overload. Enlarged liver, also known as hepatomegaly, is a common complication in early hemochromatosis. Hepatomegaly is followed by hepatic fibrosis, in which the liver shrinks due to scarring, cellular dysfunction and death, as well as other permanent damages. When such damage is widespread, it is diagnosed as cirrhosis. The scar tissue can block blood flow through your liver, preventing the organ from functioning normally. If cirrhosis is left untreated, it can lead to liver failure and liver cancer.
Unfortunately, most people are not aware that they have cirrhosis until their liver is badly damaged. If you have hereditary hemochromatosis, you should be aware of the following symptoms of cirrhosis:
- Tiredness or weakness
- Poor appetite
- Weight loss
- Digestive problems
- Pain in the upper right side of your abdomen
- Bruising and bleeding easily
- Confusion, mood changes, memory loss
- Sleep disorders
- Severe itchy skin
- Darkening of your urine
- Jaundice
Patients with cirrhosis due to hereditary hemochromatosis have a significantly higher risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma. They also have a poorer survival rate following liver transplant, with only a 34% five-year post-transplant survival rate compared to the 70% seen in the general population.
Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of hereditary hemochromatosis is essential for preventing the development of cirrhosis and reducing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.
The Brain & Hemochromatosis
Iron is crucial for many biological processes of your brain, such as transport of oxygen, electron transfer, neurotransmitter synthesis, and myelin production. It’s such an important element that iron deficiency can cause impaired cognitive, language, and motor development in children. It is even associated with impaired dopamine metabolism in the brain.
So iron deficiency clearly has a negative effect on cognitive development. But what about iron overload?
While accumulation of iron in the brain is normal in the aging process, it turns out that iron overload due to hemochromatosis or impaired regulation can lead to chronic neurologic disorders, such as:
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Multiple sclerosis
- Huntington’s disease
- Friedreich’s ataxia
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease)
In patients with Alzheimer’s disease, for example, excessive iron has been shown to occur in neurons and two major pathological landmarks of the disease – neurofibrillary tangles and amyloid plaques. Furthermore, studies have shown that mutations in the transferrin and HFE genes, both of which lead to dysregulation of iron metabolism, appear more frequently in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
How iron accumulates in the diseased brain is unknown. It’s also unclear whether the increased buildup of iron is a causative or contributing factor to the tissue damage in neurological diseases. But researchers have several suspicions for the ways iron is deposited into the brain, including:
- Hemorrhage/microbleeds
- Damaged cells
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Inflammatory processes
- Degradation of iron-related proteins (ceruloplasmin, ferroportin)
- Degradation of red blood cells and heme proteins
So can we somehow lower iron levels to prevent or slow down Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases? Maybe. Small clinical studies have shown that iron chelators (drugs that bind to iron for removal) are capable of reducing levels of beta amyloid in the blood improving cognition in some patients.
The Heart & Hemochromatosis
Iron overload cardiomyopathy (IOC) is an increasingly common hemochromatosis complication. In the presence of iron overload, the left ventricle (LV) loses its ability to pump blood normally due to severe tissue damage. Untreated, LV dysfunction can lead to heart failure.
To understand how this happens, let’s look at the mechanism of iron buildup in the heart.
Under normal conditions, iron levels in the heart is regulated by the protein transferrin. Transferrin transports free iron in the blood to cells, where the iron eventually enters a pool of metabolically-active iron called labile free iron pool.
Excess iron in the labile free iron pool are bound to ferritin, the iron-storage protein. When cellular concentrations of iron rise, cells can accommodate by producing more ferritin. But they can only do this for so long. When the storage capacity of ferritin is exceeded, iron is released into the cells.
Initially, your heart is able to store the highly reactive free iron safely. However, when this capacity is exceeded, toxicity occurs through iron’s ability to generate free radicals, which damage various components of the cells, including proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids. These damages eventually lead to cell death and organ dysfunction.
The end result of this entire process is the development of a cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease) characterized by moderate to severe LV dysfunction. Unfortunately, the prognosis is poor at this point, but patients have been known to improve with phlebotomy therapy.
The Pancreas & Hemochromatosis
Your pancreas has two main functions. As an exocrine gland, it secretes digestive enzymes to break down proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. And as an endocrine gland, it secretes the hormones insulin and glucagon, which helps control your blood sugar levels.
Although iron accumulation in your pancreas tends to spare its exocrine functions, it can affect the endocrine functions, resulting in both type-2 and late-onset type-1 diabetes. Diabetes is more likely to develop in patients with a family history of diabetes. In one study, researchers reported that 25% of patients with both hemochromatosis and diabetes had first-degree relatives who also had diabetes.
In addition to family history of diabetes, the development of diabetes in patients with hemochromatosis likely involves multiple causative factors, including:
- Selective β-cell damage due to iron overload, which leads to decreased insulin secretion
- Insulin resistance through liver fibrosis
- Increased body mass index
- Metabolic syndrome (increased blood pressure, blood sugar, and body fat)
- Underlying genetic tendencies
The complications of diabetes in patients with hemochromatosis are the same as those that occur in patients without hemochromatosis and are unlikely to be resolved by hemochromatosis treatments like phlebotomy therapy. Therefore, management of diabetes in patients with hemochromatosis can follow the traditional recommendations.
The Pituitary & Hemochromatosis
While not as dangerous as liver or heart disease, iron accumulation can affect your pituitary glands, resulting in major hormone disturbances. Hypogonadism, or the failure of the gonads (testes in men, ovaries in women) to function properly, is perhaps the most disruptive in terms of quality of life for patients with hemochromatosis.
The hypogonadism in men in men can lead to:
- Body hair loss
- Testicular atrophy
- Muscle loss
- Low sex drive
- Erectile dysfunction
- Osteoporosis
- Secondary infertility
- Abnormal breast growth (gynecomastia)
- Anemia
- Diminished penile sensation
- Difficulty attaining orgasm
- Depression, irritability, and difficulty concentrating
- Hot flashes
- Abnormal cholesterol levels
Symptoms of hypogonadism in women include:
- Lack of menstruation
- Hot flashes
- Loss of body hair
- Low sex drive
- Secondary infertility
- Energy and mood changes
- Anemia
Fortunately, there is evidence that hypogonadism can be reversed with phlebotomy and hormone replacement therapy.
Bones, Joints, and Hemochromatosis
Arthropathy, a disease of joints, develops in between 25% and 50% of patients with hemochromatosis. Arthritis is a form of arthropathy that involves inflammation, but hemochromatosis arthropathy tends to be non-inflammatory and is a result of decades of iron deposition in joint cartilage.
First described in 1964, hemochromatosis arthropathy typically affects the hips and knees, although it can affect diarthrodial joints like the elbow, wrist, and thumb in some cases. This is the predominant cause of disability in patients with hemochromatosis and is the most commonly seen in C282Y homozygotes. However, C282Y heterozygotes are also affected albeit typically at a later age of onset.
Other musculoskeletal problems from iron overload include severe cramps and muscle pain.
Iron overload also plays a role in bone loss (osteopenia) and decreasing bone density (osteoporosis), particularly if the patient is also experiencing hypogonadism. In one study, researchers found that 25% and 41% of patients had osteoporosis and osteopenia, respectively, demonstrating that they are prevalent complications of the disease.
Although the mechanism of iron’s role in osteopenia and osteoporosis is unclear, laboratory experiments suggest that iron inhibits osteoblast function and disrupts the bone remodeling process. These activities eventually lead to a reduction in bone mineral density.
Hereditary Hemochromatosis Treatments
Although there is currently no cure for hemochromatosis, there are treatments that can provide significant relief of symptoms and complications by reducing the level of iron in your body.
Phlebotomy Therapy
Often referred to as the “gold standard” in hemochromatosis treatment, phlebotomy therapy is a procedure that removes blood from your body with the specific goal of reducing iron overload. Just as if you were donating blood, you visit a healthcare facility where a needle is inserted into a vein, and your blood is collected in a sterile container or bag.
The only differences between phlebotomy therapy and blood donation is that you need a doctor’s prescription for phlebotomy. In the beginning, your doctor may prescribe an intensive schedule of having your blood drawn once or twice a week, especially if your iron levels are very high (>1000 µg/L). For each pint (approx.. 470 mL) of blood, about 200 mg of iron is removed from your body, making phlebotomy a highly effective and safe hemochromatosis treatment. It may also reverse cirrhosis and improve left ventricular function in some cases.
While undergoing phlebotomy therapy, your serum ferritin (SF) levels should be monitored by your doctor. This is the most direct way to measure iron levels in your body. After the initial intensive period, if your SF levels are normal (≤200 µg/L in women, ≤300 µg/L in men), your doctor may decide to space out your treatments to once every 2 to 4 months.
Now, you may be wondering about what happens to all the blood taken out of you during phlebotomy treatment. Good news. Since hemochromatosis is not a transmissible condition, the FDA allows the blood from patients with hemochromatosis to be accepted for donation as long as:
- 1) The blood is labeled with the disorder
- 2) You receive an examination from a doctor at the time of donation if less than 8 weeks have passed since the previous donation
This is a win-win scenario! Donating blood saves not only your life, but someone else’s life, too. For a list of blood donation centers approved for collection of blood and blood products from patients with hemochromatosis, visit here.
Iron Chelation Therapy
For patients who are unable to tolerate phlebotomy therapy, doctors may recommend iron chelation therapy. Since iron typically is not excreted from our bodies after ingestion, this form of treatment involves the use of drugs called iron chelators, which can bind and remove excess iron from the body via urine or stool. Iron chelation therapy can either be injected or taken orally.
Early studies with iron chelators indicate that they are as effective as phlebotomy in removing iron. However, due to high cost, poor compliance, and adverse reactions, iron chelators may not be a satisfactory treatment for hemochromatosis.
6 Lifestyle and Dietary Recommendations for Hemochromatosis
In addition to blood removal, doctors may recommend dietary and lifestyle changes for patients with hemochromatosis. The following recommendations may slow down the rate of increase in iron stores and reduce the severity of hemochromatosis symptoms:
- Avoid iron supplements and multivitamins containing iron. They can increase your iron levels even more.
- Avoid raw fish and shellfish. Patients with hemochromatosis are more susceptible to infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria found in raw fish and shellfish from warm, coastal waters. Thoroughly cooked seafood is safe for consumption.
- Avoid contact of seawater with cuts or other open skin lesions. Same reason as above.
- Consume red meat in moderation. Red meat has levels of heme iron, which is more easily absorbed by your body than non-heme iron. Since patients with hemochromatosis already absorb more iron than normal, foods with high heme iron should be avoided.
- Limit vitamin C intake to 500 mg daily. Vitamin C increases iron absorption.
- Limit alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol greatly increases the risk of liver disease in people with hemochromatosis. Patients with existing liver disease should avoid alcohol completely.
Living With Hereditary Hemochromatosis
If diagnosed and treated early, patients with hemochromatosis can live a normal life expectancy. If you have a family member with hemochromatosis or if you suspect that you are experiencing early symptoms of the disease, talk to your doctor about getting screened. Sometimes it’s not about getting old.
It’s true that iron is a vital element for our health. However, I see many patients with hereditary hemochromatosis at my practice, so I feel that it is important to be aware of its potential to do severe harm.
Are you surprised to learn about iron’s role as a double-edged sword? Do you have any experience with hereditary hemochromatosis? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
References:
http://www.diabetes.org/living-with-diabetes/complications/related-conditions/hemochromatosis.html
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/10746/hemochromatosis
https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/hereditary-hemochromatosis#definition
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19554541
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11479183
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/hemochromatosis
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemochromatosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351443
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4555109/
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.850.6887&rep=rep1&type=pdf
https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/liver-disease/cirrhosis/definition-facts
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16083706/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15105265/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9507951/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12707938/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6306469/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14676042/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11430801/
https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/BF00877096.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2947953/
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.111.050773
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1358836X9900400207
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11705485
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0002934372900708
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16538487/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5346371/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3255409/
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001195.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11507369/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1392425/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002962915304948?via%3Dihub
http://www.jrheum.org/content/30/1/121.short
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2919850?dopt=Abstract
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00198-008-0701-4
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23334864
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6476075?dopt=Abstract
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002962915304948?via%3Dihub
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14632789
![204: Resiliency Radio with Dr. Jill: Can our Minds Spontaneously Transform our Health? Bruce Lipton Dr. Jill 00:00 Hey guys, I am so excited to announce that the movie that you've been waiting for, the documentary Doctor/Patient, is now available for rent or purchase at DoctorPatientMovie.com. Check out the trailer here. 00:13 Dr. Jill: When I really knew something was wrong, was when I started having trouble walking up the stairs. I was supposed to be grateful and happy and healing and well and thriving, but I did not feel that way. I was so sick. Like always, I wanted to find an answer, and I had to figure it out. And I had to figure it out to save my own life. So I dove in. 00:38 James Maskell: Jill is the leading voice in biotoxin illness and chronic conditions that are driven by toxicity. 00:43 Bree Argetsinger: Oh my gosh, you're dealing with mold? You have to work with Dr. Jill Carnahan. 00:47 Patient 1: Dr. Jill is the first person that actually began to shed some light on the problem. 00:53 Dr. Jill: What I do is listen to the patient, and we together talk about what else is possible. 00:59 Patient 2: I don't know why I'm crying. 01:02 Patient 3: She saved my life. 01:06 Dr. Jill: The deepest lessons and most profound insights come in the suffering, come in the dark moments. Self-compassion is the healing transition that shifts something inside of us. It's actually the thing that we need most in order to heal. 01:26 Narrator: Doctor/Patient—available now at DoctorPatientMovie.com. Dr. Jill 01:36 Hey, welcome to Resiliency Radio, your go-to podcast for cutting-edge insights in functional and integrative medicine. I'm your host, Dr. Jill. In each episode, we dive into the heart of healing and personal transformation. Join us as we connect with renowned experts, thought leaders, and innovators who are at the forefront of medical research, empowering you with knowledge and wisdom to overcome illness in your journey to optimal health. Dr. Jill 02:02 Hey guys, if you don't already know, if you've been around me at all, you know my movie, Doctor/Patient is now out. You can view it, share it, gift it, or rent it at DoctorPatientMovie.com. Be sure to check it out and then I would love to hear your feedback after you've had a chance to watch it. Dr. Jill 02:19 Today, I am deeply honored to have guest Bruce Lipton here with me. He's a PhD, a cell biologist, a lecturer, and an internationally recognized leader in bridging science and spirit. We were just talking before we came on about how he has been a leader [for] decades before a lot of us in functional/integrative medicine came along. And I am so excited! If you're a doctor listening—and I know I have a lot of audience there—you are in for a treat. If you're a patient, you're also in for a treat. Stay tuned. Dr. Jill 02:47 Bruce was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and later performed groundbreaking stem cell research at Stanford University. He's a best-selling author of The Biology of Belief—if you haven't read that book, it's a classic now—The Honeymoon Effect, and the co-author with Steve Bhaerman of Spontaneous Evolution. Bruce received his prestigious 2009 Goi Peace Award from Japan in honor of his scientific contribution to world harmony. Bruce, it is a true honor and delight to have you here! Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 03:17 Jill, I am a happy person to be here because this audience that I get a chance to talk to, to me, is a very important audience. These are the cultural creatives that are paving the way for the future that we need to get into very soon because we're facing an evolutionary upheaval at this very moment. Whether you watch the news, surf the web, or even look out your window, the whole planet has experienced chaos at every level of it. People are focusing on the little chaos, like focusing on the trees, without pulling back to see the biggest thing that's happening and nobody's saying the words. NASA—Let me just say NASA's words. NASA has recognized that within the next 20 years, civilization is facing—and this is my emphasis here—an irreversible collapse. The reason is so mathematically simple. Let me give the math. Dr. Jill 04:16 Sure. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 04:17 Science has recognized that to continue living just the way we're living—just say, let's every day live the way we're living today on this planet—it takes 1.6 planet Earths to provide the resources for today's civilization. The simple math is this: There's one Earth subtracted from 1.6, and we're recognizing: "Where the hell are we getting the extra points?" Dr. Jill 04:39 We're in a deficit. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 04:40 And that deficit is leading to the destruction of the web of life. We have to also recognize this: Even though the Bible is giving us some fanciful story that nature was created and then humans were added on top of nature—no, we evolved from nature. We are nature. If nature goes down, humans go down, because we are part of this web of life. Our separation in our consciousness [that causes us to believe] that we can dominate nature, I say, "How's that working?" I say, "We're facing an extinction." That's a biological reality at this moment. It's called a mass extinction. It happened five times in the history of this planet: Life was thriving, [then] mass extinction. It knocked it all out and then it started again. We are there because of our behavior. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 05:33 And I say, "Our behavior is based on our consciousness." I go: "Okay, wait a second. Is that New Age?" I go: "No, let's stop. No New Age here at this moment." [In] 1927—day one, quantum physics—Max Planck, the founding father of quantum physics, states: "The mind is the creator of our life experiences." Quantum physics—the most valid of all the sciences today in the sense of its predictions and accuracy. Quantum physics. And it's still the belief in quantum physics: Consciousness is controlling this. And I go: "So if consciousness is controlling this, then why are we in such a mess?" The answer is: We have been programmed, and the programming has disempowered us all. It has disempowered us as patients. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 06:28 I go: "I'll give you a program that disempowers you right now." I say, "What is it?" "It's called genetic determinism." That was what I was teaching in medical school: Genes control the character of life. I go: "Did we pick the genes as far as we know? No. But if we don't like the characters we have, can we change the genes? No, can't do that." And then let's just add a little tidbit: Genes turn on and off by themselves. And I say: "You put those together and what have you done? You have told the patients that their lives are not in their control, they're controlled by their heredity, and that they're victims of heredity. Which is victims of what? Genetics. And what does a person know about genetics? Nothing. Who does know something? The doctor. Aha! The program is: When it comes to health, people do not trust themselves." They say: "I need an expert opinion. I'm not knowledgeable." They accept the truth from somebody else. Dr. Jill 07:28 I so love the direction that you're going here because, as a physician, one of the most important things I can do is empower the patient and make sure that they don't think that I am the end-all-be-all. [I want them to know] that we are collaborating and that I listen to them, and I say: "How do you feel about this treatment plan? Where do you want to go?" Granted, if I have wisdom, I can give them that information, but they still get to make that decision. But so many patients are outsourcing that wisdom to someone. Or, at least paternalistically and historically, that has been the way. And what we need to do is take control of our own health. Dr. Jill 08:00 How many patients have gone through a loved one with breast cancer—I'm a breast cancer survivor, so I can speak on this—and they're told, "You have the BRCA gene and you need to have a bilateral mastectomy"? I'm going to be strong about this because I disagree. That's an action out of fear. To each his own, so if you've been out there and have done something based on your genetics, there's no judgment here. But what we're saying is that you actually have control over the expression of those genes. So why don't you go into epigenetics for those who don't know what that means and tell us a little primer on epigenetics and why we have more control than we think? Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 08:34 Okay. The most important thing—and this is all scientific, so this is not any new age BS here, folks, this is science—I say: "What is it?" The belief that genes turn on and off is a completely false statement because a gene is a blueprint to make a protein. The proteins are the building blocks. Proteins wear out; you have to replace them. So you have to have a blueprint. It's called a gene. I go, "It's a blueprint!" I go, "Why is that relevant?" I say: "Go to an architect's office. She's working on a blueprint. You ask her, 'Hey, is your blueprint on or off?' She would look at you like, 'What are you talking about? There's no on and off to a blueprint.'" I go: "Aha! Aha! A gene is a blueprint. What you want to find out is: Who's the architect who reads the blueprint? The blueprint does not read itself. There's an architect." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 09:24 I saw this in my research in 1967. None of you were probably old enough to know what I'm talking about—1967! But I was cloning stem cells. Let's give the real name of a stem cell: An embryonic cell. It's an embryo's cell. It replaces things that are broken and gets a new one. I go: "So what? I clone the stem cell." I say, "What's that?" I say: "You put one stem cell in the culture dish. And then what? It divides every 10 or 12 hours." So first there's one, then there's 2, then there's 4, 8, and 16. A week later, [there are] 30,000 cells in the petri dish. What's the most important fact? They all came from one parent. I have 30,000 genetically identical cells. I split them into three petri dishes—one, two, three. Each dish has 10,000, 10,000, 10,000, all genetically the same. We grow cells in a culture medium. Ah, this is going to be the tricky part, for when you get this, the world changes. I'm going to come back to it. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 10:27 I say: "A culture medium is what the cells grow in in the lab. And I make it up by putting the chemistry or culture medium. Since I'm creating it, I can change some of the constituents. So I make three different versions of culture medium, A, B, and C." So I say, "So what?" Each one represents a different environment because the cells live in a culture medium. So I say: "Okay, dish one, environment A—the cells form muscle. Dish two, environment B—the cells form bone. Dish three, environment C—the cells form fat cells." I'm doing this experiment. I'm teaching genetic determinism, and I'm watching the cells and going— Dr. Jill 11:10 Wait a second. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 11:11 —"Wait a second, who controlled the activity?" They were all genetically the same. What was different? The environment. The chemistry of the environment selected the genes. The genes did not select themselves. Then, all of a sudden, I said, "Why is this important?" It's a revolution! I'll tell you why. Genetic determinism: Victim. The new science, epigenetics, which I'll explain: Master. Why? Because you control the environment. It's the environment that controls the cells. It's called epigenetics. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 11:48 [There's a] simple reason why the name [is what it is]. What do we call skin? Epidermis. Why? What's under the skin? A layer called dermis. What's the skin above the dermis? Epidermis. Epi: Above. Epigenetics: Control above the genes. I go, "Whoa, the control is not in the genes." I said: "No, it's to control the environment that the genes live in." I go, "Well, wait, I control the environment." Aha! If you control the environment, then you control the genetics. And that's all of a sudden where the new science comes in. The genetic determinism: Victim. Epigenetics: Master. You control your genes. So basically, what I saw back in 1967 was, "The genes didn't make this decision." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 12:48 Now let's just jump ahead a second here because that's a basic science. And then I'm going to give you this, which you're totally aware of: You are a skin-covered petri dish. You have 50 trillion cells under your skin and you have the original culture medium. What is a culture medium? I didn't say it before, but I'll tell you where it is: A laboratory version of blood. When I grow human cells, I concoct a culture medium based on the constituents of human blood or mouse blood, depending on which cells I'm growing. What's the point? You are a skin-covered culture dish with what? The original culture medium. You have the blood. The blood carries the chemistry, which activates the genes. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 13:34 So the first point: Scientifically, it doesn't make a difference if the cell is in a plastic dish or a skin dish? I said, "No, it's the environment." And I say the environment in your body is the blood for the cells. Then come two questions that blow the game into a new evolution. Question number one: What controls the chemistry of the blood? The answer is the brain. It's the chemist. The big one—here it is, hold on: What chemistry should the brain put into the blood? You know what it is? Whatever picture you hold in your mind, the brain translates the picture into complimentary chemistry that matches the picture. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 14:25 I say, "So why is this important?" The picture in your head becomes material in your body. You manifest what you're thinking. I go: "Wait a minute. Would I manifest this life? Would I manifest my cancer?" I go, "Yes." I go, "You say that so affirmatively." I go: "Quantum physics—the most valid science principle number one [is that] the mind is the creator of our experience." I go: "Well, epigenetics is the biological component of that physics mechanism." Epigenetics is how the mind adjusts the genetics of the body. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 15:05 And I go, "We're facing a healthcare crisis on this planet." I go, "Yes, we are facing a healthcare crisis." And I go, "What's responsible?" We put all the money into science. You know what we're looking for? We're looking for the gene—the gene that controls that problem. Guess what? Less than 1% of all diseases on this planet have any connection with genes. Wait, then that means only less than 1% of what we diagnose as disease is connected with genes. I go, "Yes, that's a fact." Then what is really contributing to the worldwide crisis in healthcare? The answer is: Stress is 90% the cause of disease, minimum. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 15:54 I go: "Okay, come on! How could that do that?" Let's give the biology because it's not New Age again. You're ready? When you're in stress, you're in threat. When you're in threat, you engage a protection response. I say, "What is a protection response?" The protection response is: When you perceive stress, you will release stress hormones, adrenal hormones. I go, "Yes, so what?" Well, what do you think the adrenal hormones do? They prepare the body for fight or flight. I go, "So what?" I say: "First of all, there are three stages to take a body from health, happiness, joy—I'm in the garden, I love my life—to 'Ah! A sabertooth tiger's chasing me!'" I say, "So I have to switch from growth, boom, into protection." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 16:41 How does that happen? Three steps. Number one, stress hormones cause the blood vessels in the gut to constrict. Why? Because most of the blood is in the gut. I say, "Who cares?" I say: "Ah, but the blood is a source of energy. So if you need energy, you need blood." So I say, "So what's the point?" I say: "Most of the blood is in the gut, taking care of the body, cleaning, fixing, repairing, nourishing, and doing all those things. But the moment stress hormones come in, the blood vessels squeeze shut. People feel it in the body." "It's queasy. I feel very queasy when I'm in fear like this." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 17:16 I say: "But some people say butterflies in the stomach. Why?" The fluttering of the blood vessels shutting down—you can feel it. And it's a fluttering. And what's happening? The blood is being pushed to the arms and legs, and that's where I need to run away from that damn tiger. So number one, redistribute the blood. Where do I take it from? [From] growth and maintenance to protection. So I'm not funding growth and maintenance when I'm running from the tiger. I go, "No, you're not." Number two, the immune system is to protect me on the inside. If I'm being chased by a saber-toothed tiger, then what's the value of the immune system? Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 17:55 I'll give you a scenario. Come on, doctors, listen to this. The patient's got a bacterial infection. They're going to have a real bad case of diarrhea coming up here and they're being chased by a saber-toothed tiger. How would you split the energy of the body? How much to support the immune system and how much of that energy to run away from the saber-toothed tiger? I'll give you a second. Okay, thank you. The answer is, of course, who cares about the immune system? If the tiger chased you, the bacteria are not your problem anymore, that's for sure. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 18:26 Listen, stress hormones shut down the immune system to conserve energy. And you know damn well that when people are sick, sometimes they don't even have the energy to get out of bed because the immune system uses a hell of a lot of energy. If you're being chased by a tiger: I can't support the immune system because if the tiger gets me, who cares about what's happening in the interior?—it's not mine anymore. It's so important—in fact, therapeutic—that when they transplant an organ from person A into person B and they don't want immunological rejection, they give the recipient stress hormones before the operation. That restricts the function of the immune system so it doesn't immediately reject the foreign graft. Ah, so stress hormones are used therapeutically to shut off the immune system. So I say, "Yes, what do you think stress does automatically?" That's number two. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 19:21 Number three, conscious processing is slow compared to reflex behavior. Conscious [processing] is like, "Oh, let me think." Reflex is boom! Boom! Like that. The point is, if you're running from a saber-toothed tiger, conscious processing is going to delay your nervous system because you'll be thinking. When that tiger is coming, guess what? Remember the role of the stress hormone—to squeeze the blood vessels here? They squeeze the blood vessels in the forebrain. I say, "Why?" Because it stops the blood flow from going to the conscious mind. Where's it going? The hindbrain—reflex behavior. Result: We become less intelligent in the fear process. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 20:11 So I say: "Let's put these all together. I shut down growth, I shut down the immune system, and I shut off conscious awareness." I go: "When was that system formed?" "Oh, a couple hundred thousand years ago." I say: "What was it responding to?" "The saber-toothed tiger?" I go: "So what was important?" "If you escape that tiger for five minutes or ten minutes, there's no more saber-toothed tiger, no more stress." So it was used for five to ten minutes. Shut it down [for] five to ten minutes; we'll come back later. In today's world—you know the whole thing—every day, every minute, we're in stress. The system was never designed for chronic stress. It shuts down the vitality, health, and maintenance of the body. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 21:01 The stresses of this world are responsible for over 90% of healthcare crises. This is recognized by the American Psychological Society: 95% of visits to doctors' offices [are] stress-related. I was a programmer. And I'm not proud now because, when I programmed, people used to believe in genetic determinism. I go: "No, no. I was wrong. Epigenetics, okay?" But we've been programmed to be victims. Dr. Jill 21:32 Yes. First of all, I think doctors are starting, at least in my realm of functional/integrative—we're talking epigenetics; we're using this. And I just want to share a personal example to bring home what you just shared. It's so important. Many of my listeners know that at 25, I had breast cancer, then Crohn's disease, and then autoimmunity. I'm the poster child. What I remember very clearly is that in my 30s, I got mold-related toxicity. My immune system was terribly trashed and overactive and I was under high stress. I remember one day walking along and realizing: "This stress that is in my body is actually killing me." I had the mentality [of] "beating cancer," "fighting cancer," "fighting this," "fighting that"—fighting, fighting, fighting—which is your saber-toothed tiger [description]. I was in fight or flight. Dr. Jill 22:16 The day I realized that was the day I realized I could also reprogram my immune system through my thoughts. That day I started thinking [up] a new paradigm, thinking about these little yellow minions being my immune system. They were helping escort mold toxicity out of my body without this fight because, [in] fight or flight, there's no healing. And now, today, I'm healed from that and from mold-related illness and all of this. But it's really that moment when I realized I could change my thought process, change the function of my immune system, recover from Crohn's, cancer, and toxic mold, and no longer fight. Dr. Jill 22:53 And the most important message, as you brought home, is that when I'm sitting with a patient, if they're in fear, if they are in fight or flight, and if they are feeling unsafe in their body, there is no amount of pills, supplements, IVs, nutrition, or even good advice that I can give them… Unless they go to that place of unsafeness, that place of fear, that place where they're still somatically running from the tiger. We have to change that, and it starts with this. Dr. Jill 23:22 So I love, love, love that you framed this. And I just want to give you credit because you've been doing this work for decades before anyone else was talking about it. And now we're seeing it. And finally, doctors in my field are starting to acknowledge and talk about it. But even in my field, functional medicine is a lot about supplements, diet, and lifestyle. That's all great. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 23:40 Well, that's environment! Dr. Jill 23:41 Right? Right. Actually, that's the thing I was going to mention too. My specialty is environmental toxicity, so I know the petri dish of how it affects our bodies. But I do believe, as you're saying, that this reprogramming of our mind… Do you have any stories or examples, maybe from your book, of a patient, client, or somebody who has read your book who really took this and changed from there? Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 24:03 I've got hundreds and hundreds of letters from people who've written. There were two things about this. Let me express it even in my personal life. I understood this from a scientific point of view. Man, it was in my laboratory, my research. It was repeatable; I could do this all the time. It took 23 years before science caught up with that observation. I [inaudible] a lot of other things in between to conform. And the reality is that our own understanding about our frailty—it's an understanding. And then I give an understanding of, "No, we're very powerful." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 24:42 I was so happy to go and find an audience of doctors and people: "Let me explain how to create the most wonderful life. Here's the science!" And then they'd come to my lecture and they'd look at me and go: "Lipton, your life doesn't look that good for a guy who says you know this." Oh my God, I was caught. You know what it was? Talking the talk, not walking the talk. I knew the science. It was in my head. Did I make it part of my life? No! I say: "So what was the point? I don't care how smart you are; if you don't make a part of your life, it's irrelevant." Totally! Then all of a sudden, when I caught myself going, "Oh, do as I say, not as I do," it's like, "I can't do that!" So I had to say: "Stop lecturing. Start living your life with the principles you are telling other people. Live this now." How long did it take me to change my life? Oh, within a month, my life was completely on a whole different spectrum. And it was like, "Now, of course, I start talking about it again," because it was real. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 25:47 Let me just give a simple understanding, a scientific understanding, and that is this: The mind is not one thing. "Oh, the mind." I go: "No, not the mind. There are two minds. And they're interdependent, but they have different functions." The conscious mind, the latest evolution: The prefrontal cortex, right behind your forehead, [is] the seat of the conscious mind. What's that? The conscious mind is your source, your personal identity, your spiritual place. What else is it? It's creative! That's what makes humans different than all the other animals. We can take ideas, boom, build them, and create in the conscious mind. What about the subconscious mind? Oh, the original one? Hard drive, programs, habits, stored behavior. Thinking? Uh-uh. Just behavior—program. Dr. Jill 26:38 The subconscious has no way to differentiate truth, right? It does whatever you tell it to do. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 26:44 No, well, the subconscious doesn't do what you tell it to do; it does what it tells it to do. The subconscious is the autopilot. I say, yes, the mind works, but you have to understand that when I'm in the conscious mind, that is the creative side. That's the side with wishes, desires, and aspirations. What do you want? Conscious mind. Subconscious mind: Program. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 27:09 I say, "So what's the issue with our life when it comes down to it?" The monkey wrench that blows the whole thing out is that when the conscious mind is thinking, it's not paying attention to the outer world. A thought is inside. When you're present, your conscious mind is looking at the world and engaging the world. Right now, in front of it, I'm engaging it. But if I'm thinking, my conscious mind is no longer looking out; it's looking in because a thought is on the inside. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 27:38 So I say, "Wait, what if I'm driving the car and I have a thought?" And I've got to tell you, in fact: Then you're not driving the car. "What do you mean? No accident or nothing." I say: "Driving is a program. You don't have to think about driving." In fact, most of the time, if you've been driving for a long time, you never think about the details of driving. It's an automatic behavioral program. It plays when you're not paying attention. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 28:02 I go: "Aha! When the conscious mind is thinking, it's not paying attention to the outer world. Why? It's inside." So I say: Walking, driving, talking, doing your job—hey, those are habits. You've been doing it all—whatever [it is]—for a long period of time. You don't have to re-learn it. It's automatic. Do you even have to think about walking? No, you didn't even have to say: "Oh, I'm going to walk from here to there. I'm going to get that." I say: "Walking is automatic. You don't think about it—program." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 28:37 So then comes the number and this is scientific: Ninety-five percent of the day is the average person's amount of thinking. Then what does that represent? Biologically, only five percent of the day are you creating your life with the conscious mind's wishes and desires. Ninety-five percent of the day your life is coming from programs that you downloaded mainly before age seven. And I go, "Where did I get the programs?" I go: "Before age seven, your brain is not primarily functioning at the level of consciousness, which in EEG terms is alpha, beta, and gamma. When you're under seven, you're operating primarily at theta, which is just below consciousness." Theta—imagination. Hey, the tea party: Pour nothing into the cup. Drink the nothing. "The best tea I ever had in my life!" That's imagination. That's theta. That's what kids do all the time. They can have imaginary friends. They play with them all the time. It's imagination. Theta is hypnosis. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 29:41 I go, "Why is that important?" How many rules does it take to be a member of a family? How many rules does it take to be a member of a community? Now we're talking thousands. I go, "Why is that important?" I said, "Well, teach an infant a thousand rules." I go: "They can't read a book. They can't sit in a classroom. They can't understand a video." I said: "How are they going to learn?" Nature took care of that. Nature gave the first seven years theta, which is hypnosis. You want to know the behavior? Watch your mother, watch your father, watch your community. Watch their behavior; download it. Now it's your behavior! Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 30:19 So the behavior that's in your subconscious mind didn't even come from you, did it? Nope, it came from other people. And did they answer your wishes and desires—what you'd like? Not necessarily. So then, are there programs in there that give you what your wishes and desires are? Not necessarily, no. In fact, I say, "So what about these programs?" Sixty percent of the things you downloaded as a kid—sixty percent of the subconscious programs [are] disempowering, self-sabotaging, and limiting beliefs. And you operate ninety-five percent of the day from them. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 30:53 Ah, but here's the monkey wrench you didn't catch! Why am I using my subconscious programs? Because my conscious mind's not paying attention; it's thinking. Well, then, do you see the programs when they come out? I go: "Nope! You're the only one who doesn't even see the program!" Why? Everybody else around you is responding to your program. You're not even paying attention [to] what the hell is coming out. Sixty percent of it [is] disempowering yourself. So the issue is this: We are not controlling our lives. Our program controls our lives. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 31:28 I say, "Oh, this is a new science." I go: "Scientifically, this is valid. This is understanding theta activity, downloading programs, conscious, subconscious, blah, blah, blah, blah." But the Jesuits knew about programming for 400 years. They would tell their followers, "Give me a child until it is seven, and I will show you the man." Oh my God, that's 100% right! The programming is before age seven, and 95% of the life is the program. They knew it. They created Catholic schools to help the programming go along. And that idea is never lost because if you can watch an infant today, which I've seen carrying an iPad, interacting with a program on a computer, that's far better programming than Jesuits could ever have thought of. Dr. Jill 32:17 Yes, it's clear, isn't it? That's a really good transition because one of the things I see as the biggest crisis in healthcare is environment, but it's environment that is no longer socially interactive or present. We're numbing ourselves out with machines, with iPads, and with phones. They are designed to create an addictive behavior, so they're tapping into some of those subconscious programs, right? Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 32:40 And let me just add this to that: It's not just that behavior, but it's also creating disempowering behaviors. So these programs—as you were just going to say, and I'll let you have it back again—were not designed to help us; they were designed to control us. Dr. Jill 33:05 Yes. And sell and control. Yes, so we are pawns in this new world of technology that is neurodynamically designed to be addictive. If you haven't seen The Social Dilemma, that's a great place to start in your education on social media and the impact. I do want to talk about this. One of the things you just got done saying is that before seven, we're programmed. I totally understand and believe that. But the truth is, we have the power to change that programming. Tell us about that. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 33:36 Most everybody out there has changed that programming. I say, "You've already done it." I say: "What, the movie The Matrix, being a documentary, everybody's programmed?" Yes, of course, that's the foundational belief of the movie and the reality. And in the movie, they offered the red pill. And I say: "What was the red pill? You get out of the program!" Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 33:54 I go, "Almost everybody out here right now listening has done that." I say: "What was the consequence? How did it happen?" I'm going to tell you. Falling in love is a red pill. I go, "What do you mean?" Because when you first fall in love, you stop thinking. Biologically, you stay present; you stay in the conscious, creative mind. You've waited for this person your whole life. They're there. What, you want to start thinking and then ignore them? Are you kidding me? You stay up conscious. You stay mindful. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 34:23 I say, "So what happened?" I say: "Your life up to meeting that person: Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You meet them [and] 24 hours later: 'Oh, man, life is beautiful. Life is so wonderful. Hey, the food's really good. That music is even better than I ever thought it was.'" And even the crappy job is not so crappy. I said: "What'd you do?" You made honeymoon. What's honeymoon? Heaven on earth. I said, "What was your heaven on earth?" Whatever you wished and desired. You and a partner coming together when you're both wishing and desiring, you're sharing the same wishes and desires, you manifest a honeymoon. Oops, I dropped something, but okay. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 35:01 Is the honeymoon already there? I go, "The honeymoon's always there." I said, "Then how come you don't have it?" Because when you start thinking, you then go back to subconscious control, the default. And the problem is, why do 50% of marriages end up in divorce? The answer is this: Marriage has started with the relationship of two conscious creative minds sharing together a belief in creating a honeymoon, and it ends when thinking enters into the people and they start playing their regular programs, which are 60% negative. The partner hears these programs. The one saying the thing doesn't hear it; the other one hears it. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 35:43 I love the response. When somebody comes out in a relationship and the loving partner hears some kind of BS come out of their other partner, they look at them and go: "Who are you? Where did you come from?" What? It was never part of the behavior. And then, all of a sudden, it shows up. And the more thinking, the more that negativity shows up. There's a point where a partner will say: "That's enough. That's not why I signed up here. I signed up because we had a great honeymoon." After you started thinking, this thing went right down the tube. The point is, that's what reality is about. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 36:18 So the idea then becomes simple, which is the obvious thing: "What if I created all programs that represented my wishes and desires—if I had those programs?" I said: "Oh, you know what? Whether you're consciously creating those wishes and desires or your conscious mind is off in left field, your subconscious will be manifesting the wishes and desires. And guess what? A honeymoon is not a short period. A honeymoon is every day of your life for as long as you live." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 36:46 Does it work? Personally, I had some very bad programming when I was young because my mother and father had a dysfunctional relationship. I downloaded my father's dysfunctional behavior. I played it when I couldn't see it. The result is that I couldn't get relationships off the ground. Then I understood the nature of the programming. Then I understand the nature of reprogramming. Around 50, I met my partner, Margaret. We just celebrated 28 years! And I'm not selling just a relationship; I'm talking honeymoon for 28 years. To wake up every day in my life and go: "Oh my God, I'm still here. Oh my God, I have another day to smell the roses, to have a piece of cake, to enjoy the love, watch the environment, and love my life." I celebrate life. Jill celebrates life. What's the result? Where's the illness? What illness? Dr. Jill 37:45 Yes! I love that. There are some points that I think are so crucial that you just made, number one, being present with our partners, watching them in real time and observing them. So often we create a program of them, a template, and then we don't expect them to change. Or, we expect them to behave the same. And when we're in real time, present with another person—whether it's a friend, family member, business associate, or lover—we can respond in real time. And that's part of that co-creation that you're talking about. It's crucial. Dr. Jill 38:15 The other thing is that with illness, I find one thing that was—I'm sure this is related to the program, [and] I'd love your comments—I never identified with the cancer. I never became the cancer. I never made that part of who I was. Even now, I'm like, "Oh yes, 20 years ago, I had cancer." And of course, it's real, but it's almost foreign because it was never part of me. And I really believe that's a huge part of why I overcame a very, very aggressive cancer at the age of 25—because it never was my identity. Do you want to talk about that a little bit? Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 38:44 Yes, let's just talk about this. The first thing is that I'm going to give a fact of science [to] which [a person might say], "He really said that?" And I'm going to say, yes, I'm going to say this. There's not one gene that causes cancer. There's not a gene [where], "You have this gene, you get cancer." The one scary one for women, of course, [is] the breast cancer gene. I go, "So what?" I go: "Women who carry the breast cancer gene don't necessarily have to have cancer. As a matter of fact, nearly half of them don't get cancer. But they have the gene." So then I say, "Then where did the cancer come from?"—because those who have the cancer with the gene and those who are healthy with the gene have the same gene. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 39:20 What's the difference? The answer is this: Cancer is correlated with a gene, not caused by a gene. Cancer is caused by disharmony in the system. Disharmony is the source of disease. Harmony is the source of health. Disharmony means your programming wasn't really good, and you're responding to things in a negative way that is going to cause a breakdown of the system. That's where the stress comes into it. So the concept is this: The image—even if once you tell a woman, "Yes, you have the breast cancer gene," what the hell image do you think is going to be in her head? The answer is: Cancer. I go: "Yes, but isn't the function of the mind to take the image of the head and turn it into reality?" I go, "Absolutely! What's the consequence?" Ninety percent of cancer has no genetic linkage at all. Dr. Jill 40:14 Yes. That was the biggest question I got as a 25-year-old. Every single person, to a T: "Oh, did you have genes?" No, I didn't have genes. I had a dysfunctional system when I was in my 20s. That goes into a whole other lecture that I could give, but I was not living consciously. And there were some things, stress-wise, that were contributing. And it was the environmental toxic load. So all of these things are the petri dish. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 40:38 And more than that, there must have been the two programs. Eighty to ninety percent of all people will not test positive for two beliefs. Number one, and I think the most important, is the belief, "I love myself." Eighty percent of people will not test positive for that belief. Number two, and this is the one where the healthcare crisis comes from: "I am safe." When you have a picture of fear, then the chemistry of fear is to manifest the fear. When they say "This is it" and [show you] a picture of the tumor and everything, then you make the chemistry of the tumor. Then the idea is that we have to own quantum physics. Consciousness is the source of our life experiences. We have to understand the nature of epigenetics. Consciousness is the source of what controls our genes. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 41:07 The third thing that I think is part of the Renaissance that we really must emphasize at some point is Newtonian physics, which separates physical from non-physical, matter versus energy. It's an illusion. It's not real. But it programs us in a very bad way because the program says: "Whatever is made out of matter can only be affected by matter. Whatever is made out of energy can only be affected by energy." And I say, "So what's the consequence?" I say: "The body is matter. And what do you think the whole foundation of the pharmaceutical company is? The body is matter and we make the matter to fix the matter." Dr. Jill 42:16 Yes. What's the matter with that? [laughs] Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 42:18 Three hundred thousand people die in the US every year from prescription drugs, that's what's the matter with it, when less than 50,000—I think 30,000—people die from illegal drugs. We have a war on illegal drugs, and 300,000 people dying from pharmaceutical drugs is called the cost of doing medicine. I go: "That's damn expensive! We don't need that." Simple law of science: If a drug works, it only works because you already had a receptor for that drug on you. Do you think nature put receptors on cells, waiting for the pharmaceutical company to make a drug? No, come on, man! If you have a receptor for a drug, it's because you have a receptor for a drug that you make. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 43:01 I go, "I can make any drug." Of course, because any drug works because you have a receptor to connect it. If you have a receptor, then you obviously have a signal that will bind to that receptor. Then you say, "Well, it's not working." And that's where everything gets screwed up because that system isn't working and then you go right away: "Oh, the body is defective. The genes aren't working right. There's an interference with the physical." I go, "Yes, there was an interference because it didn't start down here; it started up here." And once you start to understand this, yes, treat the body if there's an immediate need to treat the body, but the process of treating the patient is treating this part. Knowledge is power. They do not have the knowledge of who they are. They're programmed [to think]: "I'm a victim of my genes and I have no power." I go, "Well, there's your problem." Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 43:54 And the issue about it is that you guys are in the front of the evolution that says: Okay, I can treat the patient, but I've really got to treat the consciousness of the patient. Why? Because, as quantum physics says, consciousness is the source of this creativity, and as epigenetics says, consciousness is the source of this expression. You cannot leave that out. Dr. Jill 44:18 You just talked about two beliefs that I think are critical and it's a great place to kind of wrap up. The first one is: Do we love ourselves? Do we really, really, truly love and accept ourselves? I have written a book and done a movie on that message. The heart of healing is: How do we show self-compassion and love? Because that is the only way that our cells will respond in health. Dr. Jill 44:41 The second thing was so crucial too, and that is the fear and the unsafety. This is where a physician in the office can make all the difference, because if they add to that fear message, guess what? That's just adding to that patient's unhealth. So one thing we are obligated to do as physicians is create a safe environment and teach that patient how to start to feel safe in their body. With those two beliefs, maybe in the last couple of minutes here, could you maybe give us some practical advice for somebody who's like: "How do I start doing that, Bruce? How do I feel safe in my body? And how do I love myself?" Because that, I couldn't agree more with you, is really the core message here. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 45:19 I'll tell you, let's get right to the root of why people do not love themselves. The answer is: Because parents act like coaches on a sports team. I go, "What does that mean?" A player isn't doing well. What does the coach say? "Oh, do better." No! The coach says: "That's not good enough. Who do you think you are? You don't deserve to be on this team." Well, a player is older than seven. They're in consciousness. They understand that the coach is saying, "You better do better!" Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 45:47 Now let's say the parent is the coach and the kid is under seven. There's no consciousness operating. What's operating? Hypnosis, programming. So when the father says, "That's not good enough, you don't deserve this, you're not lovable, you don't belong," blah, blah, blah—acting like the coach who says, "This is going to make them do better"—if the kid is under seven, you just programmed them to self-sabotage because the subconscious is going to create 95% of their life. And if I get a program "I do not deserve," when I'm thinking 95% of the day, what the hell program is running? "I do not deserve." So I could say something so stupid in my corporate structure or something, and somebody says, "That guy doesn't deserve to be here." And then, all of a sudden, I'm kicked out of the structure. Why? Because I myself made behavior to conform to "not good enough" and to not love myself. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 46:41 This is why that one's so important—because if you can't love yourself, I'm going to be honest, you can't accept love from somebody else. I go, "Why?" Because they say they love you, but in your mind, you're going: "Well, they don't know me, man. I know I'm not lovable." And you'll push them away. And then you'll find yourself with nobody around. And guess what you'll say? "You see?! I'm not lovable!" [inaudible] You just did that. And when it comes to "Do I have any power?" the answer is: No, it has been systematically deprived of them. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 46:59 I've got a minute; I've got to say this because this is really cool. There's a power struggle in the world. It's always been this way. There are three levels of power. Number one, caveman. Who's the biggest badass with the biggest club? Whatever they say, do it. They've got the power. Evolution came along. There are people then who control the resources that you need. And all of a sudden they say, "If you want those resources, you've got to give me something for this." And you know what? The ones who had the resources paid the caveman to hit you over the head if you didn't pay for the resources. Dr. Jill 47:53 A personal hitman. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 47:55 That's the king who owns the resources with an army of cavemen. Then I say, "But the last of the power struggles came down to 'knowledge is power.'" And it was recognized that, yes, that is the supreme power of everything. Knowledge is power. The first thing the church of Rome did was acknowledge: "We are the source of infallible knowledge. We are the source of truth. We say it; it's true." Well, you say, "I don't care." The point about it was that people gave up their power to the belief. And I say it here very quickly: There's a code behind the power brokers. I call it the powermongers' credo. I say, "What is it?" Are you ready? Give them the fear for free and then sell them the antidote. Dr. Jill (pre-recording) 48:46 Hey, everybody. I just stopped by to let you know that my new book, Unexpected: Finding Resilience through Functional Medicine, Science, and Faith, is now available for order wherever you purchase books. In this book, I share my own journey of overcoming a life-threatening illness and the tools, tips, tricks, hope, and resilience I found along the way. This book includes practical advice for things like cancer and Crohn's disease and other autoimmune conditions, infections like Lyme or Epstein-Barr, and mold- and biotoxin-related illnesses. What I really hope is that as you read this book, you find transformational wisdom for health and healing. If you want to get your own copy, stop by ReadUnexpected.com. There, you can also collect your free bonuses. So grab your copy today and begin your own transformational journey through functional medicine and finding resilience. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 50:59 "What do you want me to do? Put a mask on? Sure. I'll mask on. I can't visit my mom, who's dying in a nursing home?" "No, you have to give that up because you can't do that." "Really?" Dr. Jill 51:09 Yes. If you're controlled, then fear created the biology of illness. It really, really is a great analogy. Bruce, this has been so fun to dive deep. I love talking to you. I love your enthusiasm. I love your wisdom. And I love most of all that you were so far ahead of the curve because people are kind of coming along to this belief. But the truth is, you were one of the very first ones writing and talking about this. And I'm just grateful that way back in the day, in the lab, you saw this and started writing about it. Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D. 51:44 I can't be any happier than I am for myself! I have a different life! I have a different life than before that discovery. Dr. Jill 51:53 Yes. And it transforms us all, too. I have many stories, the same thing, of me continuing to transform because of this knowledge. Thank you for the work that you do. Thank you for spending your time with us today!](https://www.jillcarnahan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Bruce-Lipton-Biology-of-Belief-Can-Your-Mind-Spontaneously-Transform-Your-Health_-WEB-1.jpg)
14 Comments
Dr. Jill, thank you so much for this post! Hemochromatosis really is a silent killer. We have iron overload genes in both my parents families. I have inherited a couple of sets of the milder HFE genes. I am an advocate of genetic testing because I would never have known of my HFE genes, otherwise. I do have very elevated iron levels; and need to get my doctor to address this.
Hi Dr. Jill, I recently discovered an HFE heterozygous (H63D) mutation, via 23 and Me, and wonder if it could be related to some of my past and present symptoms. At age 35, I had premature ovarian failure, after many years of secondary infertility. I also had severe osteopenia/osteoporosis, leukopenia/neutropenia, severe fatigue, etc., at the same time. One year later, I did have a high iron level on a blood test. I currently have diastolic dysfunction, low digestive enzymes, mitochondrial dysfunction, etc., although recent bone marrow biopsy revealed low iron stores. I’m wondering if hemochromatosis could have contributed to my premature ovarian failure, 23 years ago.
Hi Lorraine
It is possible as iron can affect nearly any organ if it is stored in the wrong location
warmly
Dr Jill
WOW! Talk about timing!! My 19 yr old daughter that has previously been treated by you has high iron, high calcium and the doctors are stumped, as she does not have the gene for Hemochromotosis. She complained of increasing deep fatigue and debilitating brain fog, had two bone bruises to her pediatrician that brushed her off. Frustrated, I ran my own labs and discovered that her body has reason to feel so crappy. How can an Endocrinolgist & FP be so confounded by these albeit rare labs in a 19 yr old?
Thank you so much for this very informative article on heamochromotosis. I discovered l had it after my father died, in 2006. I was 57 then and my levels were very high. I have had lots of labotomies since and now within a safe range.
I am now 69 and have developed a lot of joint pains in my knees, wrists, ankles, finger joints, jaws and thumb base. I find it difficult to chew madium to hard foods.
I am under a rheumatologist at this moment also to help sort out what is going on.
Thanks again for this excellent post.
Should a high hemoglobin, like 15, in a woman trigger suspicion of hemochromatosis?
Have your doctor check iron levels
Hi Jill! Thanks so much for this information! Just wondering I am a female of 33 and I have often had higher iron levels during pregnancy and currently I’m not sure what my iron level is but what is typically a high iron level that would be a concern for someone my age? Thanks!!
Also thanks so much for your information on mold it saved my life!! So grateful!
It would be good to monitor and check for hemochromatosis gene
Hi Dr. Jill,
Thank you for posting this very comprehensive summary of Hereditary Hemochromatosis.
A stress thallium test revealed some narrowing in one of my coronary arteries. My cardiologist decided to run iron studies. Bingo…I had an elevated ferritin level. Following an MRI and genetic testing I I was diagnosed with HH (homozygous for C282Y gene) at 57. My brother was diagnosed a week later. We have regular phlebotomies.
My one comment: 3 years ago my liver specialist, (MD), sent me for an Abdominal Ultrasound with Elastography to determine the level of fibrosis in my liver due to HH. I had a repeat test last month with excellent results. This is a relatively new test which I noticed you did not mention in your blog.
I’m sorry I live in CT not CO. I’d make an appt to see you.
PS. Your segment on the Mold Summit was excellent.
All the best,
MF
67yr old female
Hi Dr. Jill,
I am a 48 yr old female-homozygous for H63D. I do not store iron in the typical fashion but I feel that the iron is causing so problems. I had 2 phlebotomies this year and started to avoid eating iron and now my ferritin has dropped to 16-I fear becoming anemic. With my iron panel looking good(except for low ferritin) I’m still symptomatic just be eating foods with iron. There are a few of us that are still having symptoms with good iron panels and our common factor is the MTHFR mutation. I also have histamine issues. I’m wondering if my symptoms are my body reacting to eating iron and then having histamine issues and if the MTHFR mutation is playing some part in all of this. Would love to have a phone consult with you.
Dr. Jill,
Thank you for such an informative article. I am recently diagnosed and putting so many pieces of my health puzzle together. I began to have extreme fatigue after my second son was born, (my cortisol, dhea, pregnelone and sex hormones tanked), pain and fatigue after exercise verses energy and feeling strong, hypothyroid, low insulin and chromium, low on so many minerals/vitamins, I have had damaged optic nerves for many years and now vision loss (but my eye pressure was normal). I had a hysterectomy and now 2 years later diagnosed with iron overload. I am wondering if hemochromotosis is the main puzzle piece. I am only 47, and have been diagnosed with all the above in just the latest 10 years. I have some fibrosis in my liver as well. Prior to having kids at 29 and 35, I never went to the doctor other than for annual physicals. Thank you again for your article! I have saved it to my home screen to share with family in hopes my siblings will get tested.
I appreciate your article greatly. After being diagnosed a year ago, I have only found the same, vague information about it. Your article goes into the depths of the disease and all major organs. The sub categories and their symptoms comparing men and women is especially helpful. Thank you so much for this!
Dr. Jill-
Thank you so much for writing this informative (very clear) article. I have recently been diagnosed with compound heterozygous hemochromatosis. I have been suffering many symptoms for years. My ferritin is not high(109) but my iron sat is 66%, iron is 170 and UIBC is low at 87. I have not seen my hematologist yet but have been told by someone that my numbers do not represent hemochromatosis!? Can you weigh in on this? Again, thank you for the really great article here.
Tricia Yanek
Share: