- Hey, everyone, it's Dr. Morales here. I'm very glad to bring
you a special interview with one of my favorite students, Walter who's had a tremendous success improving his atrial fibrillation and improving it naturally. And we're gonna talk
all about why he did it, how he did it, and how his
AFib is doing right now so that you can better
get those same results in your own life. Walter, thank you for taking
a few minutes of your time. How are you doing today? - I'm doing very well, thank you. - So it's been a few months now since you signed up for the Take Control
Over AFib Program now, but why don't we go backwards before you ever signed up for it. How long did you have AFib for? How long were you living with AFib before you signed up for the program? - I was probably living with
it longer than I realized because I had some dizziness
and some palpitations but it was always like passing and that came to me afterwards, after I basically was
going through the process. But basically, it was
on December 8th of 2020, woke up and I felt like
there was a chipmunk running around my chest. And I was like if this is a
sign of anything going worse, I think I need to be in the hospital. And even though during COVID it was the last place I wanted to go, it was the place I felt like I had to be. So I woke up my wife and I asked her to drive
me to the hospital. And soon as I got to the emergency room and explained what was happening to me, the triage doctor said
you probably have AFib. So, the word AFib then was really the first time I
really identified with it, was right at the entrance of the ER. - Okay. And that was only what? Maybe about a month or six weeks before you decided to
sign up for the program? - Yes, exactly. Because they immediately put me on... I left the hospital
with three prescriptions and they made me feel worse. I felt pretty good before the
day I went into the hospital but I wanted to at least
be back to that part, not to feel like why am I feeling worse? And immediately was
struggling with weight gain, and fatigue, and joint aches, and I just felt that I
wasn't in the right solution. - Yeah, and unfortunately, there's many people who feel
that way as you're describing. The medications are good, they may prevent you from
going into the hospital and obviously you don't
wanna go to the hospital and have go to the emergency room. So you certainly can reduce
symptoms for a lot of people but obviously no medication's perfect. People either feel tired
or they gain weight, sometimes the medications
are just as bad as... Has many issues as well. So what was your interactions with your own cardiologist back home? Were you given options where he said, "This is just the medications
you're gonna be stuck with?" What were those interactions
like with your cardiologist? - Well, I had two interactions. The first time I went back was like a week after my hospital. I saw the cardiologist who
was my main cardiologist, who I had seen a little over a year prior because like I said,
I was feeling fatigued and I did the stress test and I had an excellent stress test, I had no high blood pressure, I wasn't diagnosed with AFib but I had a connection
already with this doctor. And so when I came back
right after the hospital the following week when I saw him, they did another EKG
and I was still in Afib, so I had all my questions, I was like, "Can I drink coffee? what should I be doing?" He goes, "Yeah, you could have
one cup of regular coffee, have one cup of decaf," because basically I have to backtrack I'm a two coffee drinker
generally, I was anyway then. And the night that I
went into the hospital I had an extra cup of coffee. I drink mugs of coffee, I
don't drink cups of coffee, they're like 12 ounce mugs. So, I had an extra cup of coffee, I did suffer from some weight
gain from comfort food, from being quarantined at home, I'm a chef, I was exploring menu, but I still had low blood pressure. So he basically said, my cholesterol level was kinda high, I wasn't working out as
much as I should have been, I was eating incorrectly, and I felt like I was on these medications and I figured let me see what
I can do on my own for a month and then went back on January 6th, just a little less than a month later, and oddly enough, that morning
I was working out with my son and a couple of other guys, and I was doing these wind
sprints on the track field, I found out, it felt
like someone kicked me inside my chest. - Yeah.
- And I was being tested that day if I was still in AFib they were gonna shock my
heart the following day. And basically, I self shocked myself. - Really? Wow.
- With exercise because you're not in Afib. - Yeah.
- 'Cause I explained to him and I was like, "I'm
done with exercising." And he goes, "No, no, no, that was good. It was good, it was good what you did." I was with this new
cardiologist, his associate, much younger guy, and I was complaining about
being on the medications and the weight gain and gas, and he was like, "It's better to be
struggling with weight gain and being gassy, than to suffer a stroke or go into a heart attack." And he basically told me that there was no fountain of youth, and that I just had a surrender and this was where my life was. And I was furious. I was just like, that's
not what I wanted to hear. So then I was just reaching to everyone that I possibly knew that had Afib. And a friend of mine told
me that he had a friend that sought out how to
deal with it naturally. And he was taking some
sort of grain or something. But in that research,
I came up to your site. - [Dr. Morales] Yes.
- And I was fascinated by it and I watched your introductory, and I kinda liked it, and I sat on it for a couple of days and I said, "You know what? I'm follow through," and I took the class and I was diligent. I just watched every one of your episodes and I was diligent-
- So a couple of things, it sounds like first
going back to Caldera, it sounds like that
day that you went there and he's like, "You're just
gonna be on these medications, it's just better to do the
medicine than to have a stroke," was the day that you really said, "I need to find another option and try to find something myself?" - Right, and on my own I went and I was getting with... My wife is a lab tech and
I was seeing this off... So I was getting my blood
work done every month, my cholesterol dropped over
100 points the first month. - That's great. - Just by being completely... The low one, was too low. And basically, I had to up my fitness. But with still being... So I did a temporary,
I got off the statins, is that right? - Yes, aha, great. - The cholesterol medicine? - Cholesterol medicine. - I got off that to see
if diet could hold my, and it did.
- Okay, good. That's good to hear. Important thing about natural treatments when it comes to AFib and heart disease, you talked about somebody who knew about, people kinda assume that
it's a supplement or urban and that that's gonna
improve your heart disease or your Afib, but the
real natural treatment, the one that actually
is work, has evidence, has been done in trials,
you clearly see it works, takes time and it takes commitment. And that's what I try to
present in this program. Things that people hopefully
can stick with like you, and let you know that
cheating a little bit is okay. You have to be able to do it long term, you have to be able to do
it for months and years if you really want, it's
changing your lifestyle, it's not just a fad diet that
you do for about a month or so then you go back to what you're doing, you have to stick with it. Part of that is just cheating
every once in a while. There's a lot of delicious food out there. I am not perfect, you're not perfect, but yet you still have
tremendous benefits, if you can be good most of the time and just control the cheating a little bit so that way you don't miss out on things, you don't miss out on family meals, or people that like other types of foods, but you can still stick and be
consistent most of the time. What about your Afib? Did AFib get better pretty quickly? Did it take a month or two? Like how-
- No, it's kinda funny because I
was still feeling not AFib but I was feeling fluters. Like when I went to bed at
night I would feel like... And I always had that
predominantly most of my life. I was diagnosed when I was
born with a heart murmur. So I always thought it was that. But I would get like
a little fluter and... From the beginning of January, after I was diagnosed that I was off Afib, I was still taking the meds, I got off the statins
at the end of February and I reduced and I told you
that my cardiologist reduced metoprolol for the month of March. And I figured that it
reduced for one month and it lessened the flutters a little bit. And at the end of March,
I was like, "Okay, I'm weaning myself and see what happens." And instantly since March 31st, I can't count on one hand
how many flutters I've had. - Awesome, awesome. So maybe-
- None. - a little bit of flutters
at first month or two and then nothing for several months now. - Nothing.
- Good. - And periodically I... And the fortunate thing
was I was temporarily... I put myself temporarily out of work because I finished a very stressful summer as a private chef, we were still
in COVID, my kids have kids and my grandkids' childcare was an issue. So I kinda was using eight or nine months to kinda help them out
during the school year. And it also gave me the
opportunity to work, do research on my diet, to make that a consciousness,
to work on my fitness. - [Dr. Morales] Right. - I dropped about 25 pounds from January and I gained the first
month from December 8th from when I was diagnosed,
when I was put on those meds till I went back to the doctor and I really went on a strict diet, except for maybe cheat a little
bit during Christmas week, but I gained 12 pounds on the meds. - Wow.
- And I was like, "No, this is not working for me." And I've always been an
athlete and I'm self dietician, I know what healthy food is, I was like, "There's
gotta be a better way." And you gave me that confidence to say, "This is a better way." And then like I said, then I continued and sought out every bit
of information I could, was driving everyone crazy a
little bit there for a while. - Now, you could have
done this all on your own, you're obviously very
knowledgeable about nutrition, you could have just gone and
figured it out on your own but what made you wanna
sign up for this program? Or what is the benefit of the program? Do you think that it's
because I present the guide and help people get a framework? - It's you gave me the confidence- - [Dr. Morales] Right. - by explaining each step of what... Even with the pyramid of what or how we're gonna deal with this. We're gonna deal with it with nutrition, with fitness and medicine was the smallest in the top of the part.
- Yeah. - And basically, I needed to know that... It took the worry away.
- Yeah. - Yes, I probably could have done a lot of the research myself, but you gave me the confidence and I would go back when I
felt like in a little insecure, I'd go back and I'd
watch one of your videos. I was like, "Okay, I'm back
on track, I'm back on track." Because knowledge is the
tool and the comfortability. And I was alone. It wasn't like I'm going to a
12-step AFib program every day where admitting that I have Afib and that I'm powerless over my heart. I have power over my body and
my heart is functioning well, my health is functioning well. Actually, recovering the last eight weeks from a broken collarbone
which has hindered my fitness, but I can still walk. - Okay.
- You know what I mean? I can still wade in the water now, it's like you don't give up. You always have to figure out what... You don't say, "Screw it." Keep on track, keep on track. And that's what you did in your
videos for me, it was like, Be consciously aware that
these are the natural ways, it's a long-term process,
it's a long-term commitment. I don't wanna be on medicine
the rest of my life. I'm still on Eliquis, I made a commitment to stay on it because, a lot of people were telling me that it's the right thing to do but I see my cardiologist
again in September. I have good insurance now,
it's covering the Eliquis, but it's very expensive drug. - For sure, very expensive. - And I wanna retire someday, I don't wanna be using
my travel money and my... For a blood thinner that
I don't necessarily need if I can figure out a
better way for myself. - [Dr. Morales] Right, exactly. - And if I can't, then
I'll surrender it to that. But I'm gonna fight because
you put on the gloves for me, you told me that there is
a way to focus on my health and if I wanted to deal with
my health issue naturally, there is a way of doing it. - Exactly, so Walter, there are probably people
watching this video right now who are maybe thinking about
sign up for the program, they wonder if it really
could work for them, so what would you say to these people? - You know what? People that don't even have Afib, like, I just turned 65 this past week, anyone that watches
you, it's not just an... Our heart is our muscle, our
heart is what puts the fuel, why wouldn't we all want to have a better circulatory system? Why wouldn't you want the best? I wanna see my grandkids
graduate and start their life. I want the best outta my senior years. I've worked hard my whole entire
life to get to this point, I don't wanna surrender and say now I'm like a couch potato and I gotta take these three pills a day. And those three pills will turn into six. If I don't do anything, I've seen it, I've seen it with other people, if you don't address your... If you are not a proxy
for your own health, you're gonna surrender to medications, big pharma is gonna grab hold of you and you are gonna be a product. I've seen it, I have
relatives that are there and I just don't want that. I don't want that for me. And I'd rather be a
powerful example to them, than them to be an example to me. - Yeah. And you're brought out a good point. Even though I focus this program on Afib and all the research about
natural treatments for Afib, the benefits are universal. I mean, I've had people tell me about improves their blood
pressure, loses weight, improves cholesterol. Healthy eating improves your body and your health in many ways, it's just a matter of having a framework and a system that can help you get started and help you keep you motivated and help you go down the right path, and understanding that commitment is probably the most important
thing about all of this. So Walter, I really appreciate you taking a few minutes of your time- - I just wanna add one more thing about- - Go ahead.
- My wife said to me the other day that she's actually now that we've really have
done this for a long term, she likes our diet system now. - [Dr. Morales] Good.
- She likes the way that we're addressing
our diet and our health, and she feels better. She's benefiting from this. So, like we've just said, it's not just for us people
that were diagnosed with AFib, this is a lifestyle
change that is healthy. And I'm so grateful for you to guide me, if I jump in, obviously you hear it in me, I jump in 100%. - [Dr. Morales] Yeah. - But 80% will help, 60% will help. Whatever you can do and
whatever you're willing to do, it's gonna be beneficial to you. - Yap.
- And I appreciate that. - I agree and I appreciate you taking a few minutes of your time and I really think it was,
the example that you said, the changes you made, I think are gonna help a lot of
other people as well. So thank you for taking
time and sharing your story. - My pleasure, thanks so much.
