cell membrane

What is Lipid Replacement Therapy & What Can It Do for Your Health?

Key Points:

  • Lipid Replacement Therapy (LRT) combines phospholipids, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants to repair and strengthen damaged cell membranes, providing the foundation of cellular health required to recover from complex illness (and promote healthy aging).
  • LRT can be scaled up or down depending on patient sensitivity and toxin level.
  • At high enough doses, phospholipids can be used in place of traditional toxin binders while still replenishing the cell, as opposed to stealing nutrients like many binders do.
  • While Lipid Replacement Therapy is primarily used as a recovery strategy in cases of mold toxicity, Lyme disease, MCAS, etc, it may also be used as a long-term strategy for healthy aging and regular toxin clearance.

If there’s one thing we stand behind here at BodyBio, it’s that the health of your cells (and cell membranes) determines the foundation of your health as a whole. If your cells are compromised, your health is compromised. That’s why we have a mission to educate everyone on the importance of cellular health.

Rebuilding and strengthening cellular health comes down to replacing the phospholipids and essential fatty acids in the cell membrane so that the cell can restore its full function. This is called Lipid Replacement Therapy (LRT).

In this blog, we’ll dive a bit deeper into what Lipid Replacement Therapy is, what it’s used for, and how you can use it to repair and support your cellular health no matter what your health status is.

Table of Contents:

What is Lipid Replacement Therapy?

In simple terms, Lipid Replacement Therapy uses dietary phospholipids, essential fatty acids, and antioxidants to repair and stabilize your cell membranes, restoring the cells to their full function and facilitating gentle and sustainable detoxification on a cellular level.

This therapeutic method has shown promise in addressing everything from mold illness to age-related conditions, where too many damaged membrane phospholipids impede cellular vitality. LRT replaces these damaged, oxidized membrane phospholipids, restoring cellular function and allowing your body as a whole to recover its foundation of good health.

How it Works

Lipid Replacement Therapy operates on three levels:

  • Restoring the cell membrane and cellular function.
  • Facilitating detoxification of difficult-to-reach fat-soluble toxins like mycotoxins, glyphosate, and other biotoxins that end up stuck inside cells.
  • Escorting essential nutrients — such as antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals — across the cell membrane and into the cell by making them liposomal.

Phospholipid delivery triggers a swift exchange in the cell membrane, where the new lipids seamlessly replace damaged ones and release lurking toxins in the process. Remarkably, a single IV infusion of phosphatidylcholine can usher in a revitalizing transformation even for severely ill patients.

Adding glutathione, the body’s most powerful antioxidant, to the phospholipid infusion combats the released toxins and increases bile production to eliminate them. Glutathione skillfully binds to free-floating toxins in the bloodstream, safely escorting them out of the body. Moreover, it prevents any recirculation of toxins, fortifying the detoxification process.

If IV administration is not available or too strong for the patient, oral glutathione and phospholipids can be used, slowly increasing over time to allow for sustainable detoxification. As cellular health begins to improve, essential nutrients like antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals can more easily cross the cellular membrane, which in turn can promote stronger and more resilient cells.

To Bind or Not to Bind?

In both severe cases of mold toxicity and milder everyday toxin exposures such as glyphosate and other chemicals, many practitioners recommend using binders like activated charcoal, bentonite clay, and cholestyramine. These binders can be extremely effective for removing toxins, especially when they’re accumulated in the bile, but they also bind to essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and phospholipids and steal them away from the cells.

That means if you’re taking binders multiple times a day for a period of weeks to months, they’re almost certainly robbing your body of essential nutrients your cells need to repair and regain their health. Over time, this simply perpetuates the downward spiral of illness.

However, a high enough dose of phospholipids can act as the “ultimate binder” for toxins, allowing them to pass out of your cells freely and exit the body while also rebuilding cellular and mitochondrial membranes so that additional toxins cannot re-enter.

Further, the convenience of not having to manage multiple binders or having to take them away from food or other supplements and medications is a big relief for many people struggling with chronic complex conditions.

List of Conditions Applicable for LRT

Lipid Replacement Therapy may be used to support:

  • Mold toxicity and other biotoxin illnesses resulting in chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS)
  • Chronic complex infections such as Lyme and EBV
  • Neurodegenerative conditions
  • Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia (where the underlying cause is cellular damage and toxicity)
  • Rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune conditions
  • Aging-related conditions / promoting healthy aging
  • Mitochondrial dysfunction

Groundbreaking clinical trials have illuminated the potential of Lipid Replacement Therapy in restoring mitochondrial function (by repairing the mitochondrial membrane as well as the cellular membrane). LRT alleviates fatigue in both aging individuals and patients grappling with various clinical diagnoses marked by mitochondrial dysfunction, such as mold-induced chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS).

By targeting the root cause of cellular exhaustion through the replenishment of damaged membrane lipids, this therapy kindles newfound hope for those burdened by fatigue and impaired mitochondrial function.

LRT for Living in a Toxic World

We are living in an unprecedented time of environmental toxicity, from pesticides in our food to toxic household chemicals and building materials, to biotoxins produced by mold and chronic infections. Our bodies weren’t meant to handle this level of toxicity, and the chronic complex diseases we see on the rise are the result.

Lipid Replacement Therapy provides a solution to the onslaught of toxic substances we encounter every day, allowing the body to process them efficiently and keep them moving on and out. Beyond a severe toxic exposure or chronic illness recovery, LRT can be maintained at a lower dose as a maintenance therapy for everyday toxin clearance, promoting healthy and resilient cells at any age.

How To Get Started with Lipid Replacement Therapy

If you’re NOT dealing with a chronic complex illness that requires extremely slow and steady titration, you can start healing and supporting your cell membranes with this basic formula:

Mix it and take it like a shot (a wellness shot!) or add to a daily smoothie/protein shake with any other nutrients such as magnesium, electrolytes, etc. Remember that PC makes any nutrient liposomal so that it can easily get into your cells!

If you’re new to Lipid Replacement Therapy, we recommend joining our free Facebook group where you can connect with dozens of others working on optimizing their cellular health.

Can I Use Lipid Replacement Therapy as a General Health Tool?

Absolutely! If you’re interested in protecting your cells from toxin damage and prioritizing your long-term cellular vitality for healthy aging, Lipid Replacement Therapy is an invaluable practice. The good news is that if you have no pre-existing health conditions, you likely won’t need as high doses as someone who is severely compromised to start. Still, you should consult with a healthcare professional, especially if you’re taking medications.

LRT Offers Hope for Severe Chronic Complex Conditions

Lipid Replacement Therapy may be a powerful tool in supporting and managing some of the most chronic complex conditions, from mold toxicity to chronic infection and neurodegenerative concerns. Even for those who are relatively healthy, it offers a tool to prevent toxin build-up in the cells and maintain strong yet flexible cell membranes for healthy aging. This is the kind of powerful yet gentle therapy we need for surviving and thriving in today’s toxic world.

The right mix of phospholipids for your healthiest cells — learn more about BodyBio PC.

If you’re a healthcare practitioner who wants to learn more about incorporating LRT into your practice, visit hcp.bodybio.com.

References

Nicolson, G. L., & Ash, M. E. (2014). Lipid Replacement Therapy: a natural medicine approach to replacing damaged lipids in cellular membranes and organelles and restoring function. Biochimica et biophysica acta, 1838(6), 1657–1679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamem.2013.11.010

Nicolson, G. L., Ferreira de Mattos, G., Ash, M., Settineri, R., & Escribá, P. V. (2021). Fundamentals of Membrane Lipid Replacement: A Natural Medicine Approach to Repairing Cellular Membranes and Reducing Fatigue, Pain, and Other Symptoms While Restoring Function in Chronic Illnesses and Aging. Membranes, 11(12), 944. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11120944

Nicolson, G. L., Rosenblatt, S., de Mattos, G. F., Settineri, R., Breeding, P. C., Ellithorpe, R. R., & Ash, M. E. (2016). Clinical Uses of Membrane Lipid Replacement Supplements in Restoring Membrane Function and Reducing Fatigue in Chronic Diseases and Cancer. Discoveries (Craiova, Romania), 4(1), e54. https://doi.org/10.15190/d.2016.1

Nicolson, G. L., & Ferreira de Mattos, G. (2021). A Brief Introduction to Some Aspects of the Fluid-Mosaic Model of Cell Membrane Structure and Its Importance in Membrane Lipid Replacement. Membranes, 11(12), 947. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes11120947

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