The Gut Healing Process

There are 3 parts to healing your GUT: Restore balance in the microbiota by reducing the number of bad bugs and encouraging the growth of beneficial bacteria through dietary and lifestyle changes that your gut friendly bacteria thrive upon. 4 weeks. Replenish your ratio of good bacteria to bad bacteria, moulds and parasites by increasing diversity in the microbiome by eating a wide variety of fresh, raw food that is high in fiber; and healing the intestinal wall and changing the pH to encourage more growth of the good bugs. Supplementing with high doses of goo...

Our Immune System In Crisis

Our immune system function is tightly linked to our gut microbiome. It appears the immune system is the keeper of a healthy gut microbiota which, in turn, controls our immune system. Over millions of years of evolution, our immune system has acquired elegant mechanisms for mounting immunity against pathogens and controlling the microbiome in a mutualistic, beneficial way. Gut microbiota and their metabolites can interact with both the innate immune system (these are the immune system cells that attack the foreign cells and bits in the blood) and the adaptive immune system (...

Our environment and our gut microbiome. Part 1

Our environment can have a substantial impact on our gut microbiome. Early exposure to microbes, such as farm exposure, place of birth, presence of siblings or pets are all suggested to influence the early colonisation of our gut. Several studies have reported that the number kids in a family affects the microbiota composition; first born infants are thought to be most often colonised by Enterobacteria and Clostridia, whereas the colonisation by Bifidobacteria, Bacteroides and Lactobacillus increase with an increasing number of siblings. Society-level shifts have led to ...

The SIBO Solution. Part 1

What is SIBO? While SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth) has been written about since the early 1990’s it is only in the last 10 years that it has reached people’s awareness with more than 500 scientific publications on the topic in the last 5 years. SIBO is a relatively common gut disorder found between 2 to 6% of healthy controls (no gut issues) and as high as 90% in groups reporting gut health issues. SIBO has been reported in 33% in people with unexplained bloating, gas, and pain, 24.5% of patients with IBS, and 17.1% of obese individual compared to 2.5%...

Bloating. Part 1

Bloating otherwise called functional abdominal bloating and distension (FABD) by the scientists is a common gastrointestinal complaint. We all get a bit of bloating but sometimes it can become a serious problem and go beyond a bit of discomfort, cause pain and even a be a serious health risk. Complaints may range from chronic highly distressing pain to simply annoying and unfashionable protrusion of the abdomen. Bloating and distension have been reported by 30% of the adult general population and are almost universal among patients with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and...

Covid Nutrition, the Gut and Inflammaging

Without doubt being very old is the single biggest risk factor for Covid 19, but not just age on its own. Inflammaging or high levels of chronic inflammation as a person ages is the driving force behind susceptibility to Covid 19. Even though we see young people dying 99% of deaths are related to chronic inflammation. A recent study found the infection fatality rate (IFR -that is how many people actually die once they are infected) for COVID-19 is close to zero for younger adults but rises exponentially with age, reaching about 0.3% for ages 50-59, 1.3% for ages 60-69,...

The Deadly Impact of AGE’s (Advanced glycation end products) (Part 1)

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) are a large and mixed group of compounds that originate from the reaction between sugars and various lipids (fats), proteins, or free amino groups in amino acids that undergo a chemical reaction (glycation) as a result of chronic exposure to glucose or other reducing sugars. AGEs accumulate in long-lived proteins such as collagen (hence why we look so much older and have gut issues) and have been indicated as components of oxidative stress generation in tissues. AGEs induce the damage by 2 main mechanisms. First, AGEs may crosslink p...

Kids guts and all part 2

Kids guts and all part 2 The gut microbiome is highly unstable during the first two to three years of life1. The intestinal microbiome of most infants resembles that of their mother; however, after one year of age, a complex and distinct microbiome profile develops2. Children younger than three years of age have significantly lower diversity compared to adults. The bacterial communities evolve towards an adult-like configuration within the three3- or four-year4 period after birth. However, some studies suggest the gut microbiota is not yet established at five years of a...

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of the essential nutrients required by the human body. Now more than ever. Unlike most vitamins, it is one that we can manufacture on our own, given the right conditions. Despite this, vitamin D is showing up increasingly in populations as the most widespread and critical nutrient deficiency; this deficiency is linked to many diseases and disorders, costing billions of dollars each year. Our changing lifestyles, including increased indoor living and campaigns warning people to stay out of the sun have meant that most people don’t get enough vitamin D. The...

Is a low carb diet good for Reflux

There is a lot of confusion over foods for reflux, in fact more confusion that facts. The challenge lies in the fact that there are many different causes and factors involved in acid reflux. Undoubtedly, though diet plays a major role in most causes and incidences of reflux. While many people like to pick on fat particularly as some types of fat may be linked to symptoms, systematic reviews show no unequivocal relationship between dietary fat and GERD and low fat weight loss trials have not consistently demonstrated improvement in GERD symptoms or medication use. In one ...