Save America Ministries

Chuck Crismier: Are you prepared to live strong, to live long, and to live strong? Today on Viewpoint, we have a medical coach who is going to join us. Actually, he is a veteran doctor who is dedicated to helping God's people live long and strong.

He says that there are 12 numbers that you and I need to understand. Now, we have in the Bible a book called the Book of Numbers. Apparently, numbers in that regard were very interesting to God. He wanted us to know some things about numbers. There are very interesting things about numbers as well, and the number 12 is a very important number. You know there were 12 tribes of Israel and 12 disciples, and there are 12 gates into heaven and so on. All of these numbers seem to be very important to God.

Well, they're important to our health as well. Dr. Don Colbert, who has joined us many times in the past over the years, is joining us again to talk about these 12 numbers, 12 health markers that add years to our life and strength to our days. Now, before he joins us here on the program today, I want to indicate he's written a very interesting book. It's like a medical coach, and we all need coaching.

You may recall, some of you may recall, that in my earlier days after graduating from college, in the second chapter of my teaching assignments there in Southern California, I coached for five years while I was going to law school at night. That coaching experience left a real strong marker in my life, so that whatever we do here on the air, in some respects, always reflects that coaching experience because we need all the coaching we can get. We really do. But we need coaching that tells the truth.

You see, a lot of coaches are up there just giving rah-rah messages to the team, but they're not necessarily telling the truth, the whole truth that is going to help that team truly be ready for the times ahead. Dr. Colbert is interested in that kind of truth. But there's another kind of truth that he's interested in. He's interested in the truth that will actually not only deliver us from sickness and disease on the earth, but also from spiritual sickness and disease.

I'd like to read to you the opening statement. Actually, it's his dedication to his brand-new book, *Live Long and Strong*. Here it is. I thought it was precious. "I dedicate this book to all the children and teens who are living in these end times. First Timothy 4, verses 1 to 2, tells us that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy and having their own conscience seared with a hot iron."

"As a grandparent," he said, "my heart is burdened for this younger generation and all that they face in the world today." He goes on to say, "This book will give you the keys to living long and strong so that together, we can guide the rising generations back to the things of God and the saving power of the blood of Jesus. Please read the prayer at the end of the book and lead your child or teen in this prayer." What a precious introduction. Don, it is so good to have you on the program.

Dr. Don Colbert: Well, thank you. It's great being here.

Chuck Crismier: And you have been around a long time, so you have how many kids?

Dr. Don Colbert: Two kids and seven grandchildren.

Chuck Crismier: Seven grandchildren. So, you and I are pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I've got 10. Are we in a competition, Don?

Dr. Don Colbert: No, no competition.

Chuck Crismier: Well, I've got three great-grandchildren too.

Dr. Don Colbert: No great-grandchildren yet. We just want to get them all to heaven. That's the key.

Chuck Crismier: There you go. And that's what I'm concerned about. That's what I'm concerned about. But our health, they say that health is our greatest wealth. And there's a sense in which that's true, because if people are not healthy, all of their wealth in the world doesn't do them much good, does it?

Dr. Don Colbert: Absolutely, it doesn't. And so many people have spent all their life building up their wealth and then they get cancer, or they get a massive stroke or some major disease, Lou Gehrig's, and they spend all their wealth in trying to find the answer. So, I see this so many times. We need to just follow God's design, follow God's diet He's designed in the Bible, which is the healthy Mediterranean diet, and then just incorporate the principles in His word. Walk in love and honor the Sabbath and get the rest that we need and then move our body.

Chuck Crismier: Well, you're already stepping on toes.

Dr. Don Colbert: I know. That's what a coach does. A coach has to step on toes to get the team in order, right?

Chuck Crismier: Sure.

Dr. Don Colbert: But we just follow these simple biblical principles and so many pastors never preach this, again, because they're afraid they'll offend their congregation.

Chuck Crismier: Well, that's right. You know, you've got to step on a few toes out there. If you don't have an ouch on your body somewhere, you're not going to be running to the doctor, are you?

Dr. Don Colbert: Absolutely. We don't mean to offend them. We want to just speak the truth in love. And if they take it the wrong way, we just meant it in love. They've just got to take it the right way. It's to save their lives.

Chuck Crismier: Okay. Now, the way you have written this book, as I said, I believe this is the ultimate coaching book for trying to live healthy and strong. People can say, "Well, you know, that would be tough for me to do," or "Maybe that is too strict a number for me to reach for." Well, then reach for the number that you can reach for.

But as the Apostle Paul said, he had some infirmity. We don't know what his infirmity was. People have theorized what it was, but he says, "I tried to get rid of it three times. I asked God to get rid of it and He didn't." He said, "My grace is sufficient for you." So, there are some situations where we have to realize that God's grace is His enabling power sufficient for us to be able to handle.

But in general, what your book is about, as I see it, is an overall coaching to each one of us to, "Hey, how about getting your life in order? How about coming in for a checkup?" So, this book is like a divine checkup. And the fee for this checkup is pretty small, relatively speaking, is very small. I'm told that while the book is supposed to be 20 bucks out there on the market, my producer says I'm supposed to offer it for $15 on our website, saveus.org. You can't get a doctor's appointment anywhere for that, can you?

Dr. Don Colbert: No, that's impossible. That won't happen anywhere in the US that I know of.

Chuck Crismier: Okay. Now, I'm going to open this with a very strange thing. I know that this is going to appear strange, but there is a word in the Bible in the New Testament that everybody is arguing about. It's the word "tribulation." Everybody argues about what is the tribulation, when is the tribulation, are we going to be here for the tribulation, and all this kind of stuff. Well, what is the tribulation? That's the problem. We're not answering the tribulation issue.

So, if you go to the Greek, you will find that the word tribulation is not that at all. The word tribulation actually is "thlipsis," which means "pressure." Pressure. In chapter one of your book is "Under Pressure," the first number you need to know. So, if we want to avoid tribulation in our health, this is it, isn't it?

Dr. Don Colbert: Amen.

Chuck Crismier: All right, friends. We're going to be back with Dr. Colbert in just a moment. *Live Long and Strong*, $15 will put the $20 book in your hands. It's on our website, saveus.org. We will be right back.

He's been practicing medicine for over 40 years, which means that after that much practice, he should know a little bit about what he's doing. And indeed, he does. Dr. Don Colbert joining us here with his book, *Live Long and Strong*, trying to bring to us a message that weaves together God's call to us to live in such a way that we recognize that these bodies in which our spirit lives are the temple of the living God. And if they are the temple of the living God, the implication is we ought to be taking care of them as if they are the temple.

So, Don, give us your take on that. Why is that so important? As a doctor, you look at a lot of people coming into your offices, even professing Christians, and they're not taking care of the temple. What's up?

Dr. Don Colbert: Well, again, what's happened is they have not learned how to truly every day crucify their flesh according to Galatians 5:24. It says those that are Christ's have crucified their flesh with their affections and lusts.

Chuck Crismier: Wait a minute. I thought you said your book was about living long and now you're talking about killing ourselves.

Dr. Don Colbert: Well, what I'm talking about is getting rid of that deadly belly fat because the belly fat is the most toxic fat in your body. It causes high blood pressure. Your belly fat is visceral fat, that's an organ that secretes hormones including estrogen. It secretes these powerful inflammatory mediators such as C-reactive protein that raises your blood pressure. It raises your tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-6 that are cytokines that create inflammation in your body that's the root of most disease. So, it's an organ that is creating all these metabolic byproducts that are inviting disease into the body when we choose to have belly fat.

Chuck Crismier: Whoa. Now you've gone from serious preaching to even more serious meddling, I think.

Dr. Don Colbert: Well, again, a lot of people don't realize when they come in to see me and their pressure is real high, their blood pressure's high, and you know that almost 50 percent of the population here in the US has high blood pressure, 48 percent to be precise.

But I see this every day and they can say, "Oh, my pressure's high. Just give me a blood pressure med." Well, they don't realize that, yes, I can give them a blood pressure med, but I've just wiped out their libido, I've just caused ED, I've just caused all kinds of fatigue and side effects, whereas if they'll just lose that stubborn belly fat, which is so easy to lose, their pressure will most likely come down naturally.

So, again, I tell people how to do it. And then I get them on the healthy low-carb Mediterranean diet, which is, by the way, the same foods Jesus ate while He was on the earth. But I take the ketogenic principles without all the excess fat, and I use healthy fats like the Mediterranean. I take the best of the keto, the best of the Mediterranean diet.

So, I use, instead of the breads and pastas and rice and all of that, I use the beans, the peas, the lentils, the hummus, all the veggies, all the chicken and the turkey and the fish, the olive oil, avocado oil, the healthy fats. So, I use the Mediterranean principles with some of the ketogenic principles of mainly low carb. And we've got the healthiest diet in the world that most everyone can follow with great variety. And the belly fat just literally melts off, provided you do some form of exercise or get at least 5,000 steps a day.

Chuck Crismier: Wait a minute. Someone said that when they hear the word exercise, they wash their mouth out with chocolate.

Dr. Don Colbert: That's why I shouldn't have said exercise, excuse me. I should have said if they can increase their activity to just walking 5,000 steps a day, it should be sufficient for many.

Chuck Crismier: It's almost every time you open your mouth, Doc, you're stepping on toes.

Dr. Don Colbert: I know, but I don't want to offend anyone. But I want to give them the truth in love and so I'm going to kind of downplay it and instead of saying that word exercise, I'm going to say increase their activity. Just walking 5,000 steps a day should be sufficient for many.

Chuck Crismier: All right. Now, the Scripture says that Jesus said, "I am the bread of life," and the Scriptures talk about breaking bread together. It seems to me that the Mediterranean diet at that point was pretty heavy on bread.

Dr. Don Colbert: Yes, back then it was. But back then, the ancient grains were not nearly as inflammatory as the grains are of today. See, we used to have here in the US amber waves of grain where the grain was tall and it would be swaying in the wind. Well, now we have dwarf wheat that's highly inflammatory and it's able to resist drought. But what's happened is we've hybridized it, crossbred it so much that we've created a very inflammatory form of wheat that causes a lot of weight gain, especially belly fat. And it works similar to insulin. It increases our insulin levels, which causes us to gain even more weight.

Chuck Crismier: Well, my wife has to eat sourdough because the condition of the wheat is such that it causes all kinds of things that you don't want to have happen. But I understand that the wheat in Europe is not the same as the wheat here.

Dr. Don Colbert: No, it's not. Not nearly as inflammatory. And it's a funny thing when my patients go to Europe, they say, "Wow, I can eat the pasta and the bread over there and I don't get any GI upset or any problems, and I don't gain any weight. I lose weight." And it's true because they don't have the inflammatory wheat over there that we have over here, not nearly as inflammatory.

Chuck Crismier: So, we're not necessarily improving things in the land of the free that's becoming only the home of the brave as we eat bread.

Dr. Don Colbert: Exactly. When we eat bread, again, Jesus said give us this day our daily bread, but again, it was living bread back then. It was literally wheat that was healthy for you. It was Einkorn wheat, which is very healthy. And Ezekiel made Ezekiel bread, which is a very healthy bread and it's gluten-free, by the way. And they can get it at most any grocery store in the frozen food section because it spoils easier.

But that's a healthier version of bread that won't generally put the belly fat on like the other breads will. Sourdough is better because in the process of making sourdough bread, the yeast will literally consume or digest a lot of the gluten in the bread. So, it's a healthier choice, but still, you're getting some gluten in that bread, too. And so, again, the gluten inflames a lot of people's GI tract and causes a lot of gut issues for many that I see.

Chuck Crismier: Well, this is the leading chapter in your book dealing with pressure. So, what you're saying is these things that we're eating are causing tribulation to our entire system.

Dr. Don Colbert: Yes, but it's mainly the foods that are high in salt. Any food high in sodium, and all processed food, chips and cheese and soups are generally loaded with salt. Eating out at restaurants, they use so much salt in the restaurant. And so, when you eat a lot of sodium, we only need 1,500 milligrams a day, yet most people get double or even three times that much.

But as we eat more salt, our pressure goes up. It's kind of like the water hose principle. When you eat salt, you're literally increasing the pressure in that hose. And then when you constrict arteries when you get stressed or when you get angry or when you get irritable, you constrict those arteries. Or when people get enraged, it constricts the blood vessels and shoots the blood pressure even higher and then the pressure can go up dangerously high.

So, again, we have to learn simple things. The best way to get your pressure down is, again, to eat a healthy diet, drink a lot of water, decrease our salt intake, eat a lot of veggies, which are not high in sodium, they're higher in potassium and magnesium, which lower your blood pressure.

Chuck Crismier: Well, we need a lot of that potassium and magnesium. I've come more and more to understand how critical those two minerals are.

Dr. Don Colbert: Absolutely. And about 50 percent of Americans are low in magnesium, but about 90 percent of Americans are low in potassium. We don't consume enough potassium or have inadequate intakes of potassium.

Chuck Crismier: Wow. That's a lot. That's one of the most common mineral deficiencies we have. You know, one of the things that is advertised an awful lot on television is ways to try to respond to colon cancer, at least to identify it. And you indicate that we need a lot of fiber. But then I thought that breads provided a lot of fiber if you eat the right kinds of breads.

Dr. Don Colbert: Right.

Chuck Crismier: So, now we get rid of the bread because it has other things in it. So now, how are we going to get the necessary fiber?

Dr. Don Colbert: Well, again, there's different fibers. You can eat fruits like berries are high in fiber. Psyllium husk fiber is what I have daily. Also, your nuts and seeds are high in fiber. So, you can get your fiber, but if you eat wheat fiber, you're going to get the inflammatory components of the wheat that's causing a lot of belly fat. When people eat a lot of wheat and crackers and pasta and bagels and pretzels, they're getting all that gluten that's causing them to gain more belly fat. It's just a vicious cycle, you see.

Chuck Crismier: Oh, man. There you go again. See? There's just no end in sight in your stepping on toes.

Dr. Don Colbert: We've got to step on just a few toes, but we're going to do it in love, okay?

Chuck Crismier: Well, you're saying that there are also some foods that are like kryptonite. That's a pretty strong way to put it. But yeah, I think people will recognize some people are very allergic to wheat or dairy, eggs, nuts, peanuts, shellfish, fish. Whenever I go to the doctor, I have to fill something out. They say, "Are you allergic to anything?" I say shellfish and contrast dye.

Dr. Don Colbert: Oh, yeah. That's common. But shellfish, fish, nuts, and so is the wheat, so is the dairy. A lot of the soybeans, soy's a real common food allergy. But these are foods that literally create severe inflammation and allergies and potentially an anaphylactic reaction in some people.

Chuck Crismier: Well, it had actually almost took my life one time, and they gave me contrast dye and it took six physicians to keep me from leaving the planet.

Dr. Don Colbert: My goodness. Well, thank goodness you had some astute physicians that had the cortisone ready, okay?

Chuck Crismier: That's right. So, okay. So, your book is so practical. And that's we're just talking about one chapter now, just one chapter where we're under pressure in ways that we don't realize we're under pressure and don't quite know why. And you're giving us recommendations as to how we can decrease that pressure so we don't have body tribulation.

Dr. Don Colbert: Exactly right. Exactly right.

Chuck Crismier: You like that, don't you?

Dr. Don Colbert: Yes, I like that.

Chuck Crismier: Sometimes it's not just what you say, the way you say it that can be remembered. I don't want body tribulation. Now, another way that we get there is a word that we hear all the time, and that is inflammation.

Dr. Don Colbert: Oh, yes.

Chuck Crismier: Now, I think of inflammation, well, if I get a sore and it gets infected or something, it's sort of inflamed, inflammation. But this word inflammation is used so broadly. What are we talking about here?

Dr. Don Colbert: Well, what we're talking about is we're talking about sustained inflammation. God has created, we are fearfully and wonderfully made, in that when you suffer like from strep throat or a sprained ankle or bronchitis or any kind of itis, you've got inflammation where white blood cells flood into the area to fight the virus or the bacteria.