Welcome back to our weekend Cabral HouseCall shows!

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

Check out today's questions:

Margie: Hi Dr. Cabral! My questions are about Vit A toxicity. In April I started using a retinol cream at night then developed dry lips that eventually became cracked, bleeding, and painful in July! I also experienced general dryness in my mouth, eyes, and bowels. After listening to your podcast about what your lips tell about your health, I realized that it was the retinol cream & stopped using it immediately. My Vit A history includes 3 treatments of Accutane. It makes sense that adding retinol to my night time routine finally "tipped that scale", overloading my liver. I've done 2 CBO protocols & several detoxes since 2018. Before I realized that the cream was the source of my problems, I did a 7-day detox & noticed that my lips worsened esp. during the 2 days of fasting. I stopped using the DNS powder, all supplements that listed Vit A on the label & stopped eating foods known to have high levels of Vit A. After several weeks, my symptoms improved. I heard you mention in a podcast that you were going to talk about a low Vitamin A diet but haven't been able to find anything on that topic. What would a low Vitamin A diet consist of? Once my lips are completely healed, would it be safe to resume DNS, supplements, & foods with Vit A? Thanks a bunch!

Paula: Hello and thank you for all that you do Dr Cabral! My 77 yr old mother has had intermittent amnesia episodes for over 13 years now, occurring on average 3 to 4 times per year. She has had extensive testing with no definitive outcome. Tests & scans looking at epilepsy, blood supply to the brain & heart were normal. There have been no head traumas that she is aware of in the past. I have recently started looking into it further myself and have come across a condition called Global Transient Amnesia which describes her symptoms almost exactly. When having an "episode" as she calls them, she loses short term memory for about 1/2 an hour and has no idea what she was doing at the time, nor what has happened in her recent past. She is still able to perform normal functions and is alert and very aware that the episode is happening but is just unable to recall anything from days/weeks prior for about 25 minutes or so which is distressing for her. Her memory returns gradually over that time and is then often very tired afterward. I am wondering if there could be an underlying issue that could be causing this and if you recommend any functional testing? She has been taking Ginkgo Biloba and liquid magnesium on and off for years without any notable differences. Thanks so much in advance.

Dani: Hi Dr cabral, grateful for your work and would love to hear your thoughts. A few months ago I had my first eczema and dermatitis flare up since 2019 when I healed my gut and rebalanced my body with my naturopath. The dermatitis is on my face, either seborrheic or perioral. I have used native and no pong deodorants for years but they irritated and inflamed the eczema on my armpits, it was very painful so I didn't apply anything all winter (based in Aus). My first though was gut-skin connection so I've been using a gut powder. Also ran the big 5 (just have one more test to do). Have already received my intolerance test back as it felt urgent to me but everything was fine on it (not one intolerance?!) I finished the 21 day detox last week. Still some dermatitis on my face, and I just tried some Bicarb free no pong Deodorant and a few hours later a rash and itching started. So now I'm wondering what other causes should I be looking at for this skin flare up. I'm sure I'll get some more answers from my big 5 but I was hoping it would have been something as simple as the food intolerance which I've experienced in the past. I do have some hormonal issues which were the main reason for my big 5 but wasn't sure if that could be a link to my eczema. Thanks again, appreciate you!

Luis: Hi Dr. Cabral, I wanted to get your thoughts on the Salt Water Flush. I believe this is also a ayurvedic practice, but I could be wrong. It involves drinking about a pint of warm to hot water, with about 2 table spoons of salt (pink or sea salt). After some time, it will purge the contents of the intestines until the water eventually comes out clear. The only downside I know of is that it may cause electrolyte imbalances, but replenishing those isn't a problem for me. I have done this many times over the past few years, but wanted your opinion on this procedure as well. Thanks for all you do!

Nikki: Hi Dr. Cabral, -I'm 55 yo female, mainly vata with some kapha, exercising 6 days weekly, 5'6" 112 lbs. -I've done the 21 day detox and the 7 day detox 3 times this past year. I've also done the Big 5 Labs and neurotransmitter test. I have candida and yeast overgrowth along with several food sensitivities (probably from leaky gut). I've done the CBO protocol with citricidal drops, noticing digestive improvement only while on the citricidal drops. Each time I introduced new foods I had gas, bloating and loose stools throughout the remainder of the CBO protocol so I didn't keep eating them. -I then did the 3 day stool test (no h-Pylori or parasites), spoke with one of your health coaches and did the Limited Yeast protocol with the citricidal drops but continued to have the bloating, gas and loose stools after introducing new foods so, I'm still not eating anything off the sensitive gut guide except for once or twice a week when I try a new food. I take Healthy Belly 3 x daily and Healthy Gut Support each morning along with digestive enzymes when I try new foods. -I've done the Para Protocol, Intestinal Cleanse and Heavy Metal Detox. -My hormones are still not aligned although I've taken the Equilife estrogen and progesterone supplements-presumable my digestion isn't able to absorb the nutrients from the supplements. I also tried seed cycling but my digestive problems worsened. -I have restless leg which is somewhat helpful with magnesium cream. I take cal/mag at dinner and full spectrum magnesium at bedtime. I drink 2 DNS shakes daily. -I also have the antiphospholipid syndrome and take fish oils which has kept my platelets in range. -My right thumb is constantly swollen and in pain. -My stomach acid was slightly low so I've been taking 3 Betaine HCL daily but haven't noticed any improvement in digestion. -My allergies (of 52 yrs) are better since eliminating dairy in January and I'm not on meds any longer, just Quercitin 3 x daily. -My health coach says to do another round of the CBO protocol and that should help so I'll be doing that again and will just be finishing when you get this. I'm concerned I will still feel the same and won't be able to introduce foods I can actually continue eating without problems. -Please let me know if you have any thoughts you think may help.