Microbiome, Micronutrients, and Nutrition in Chronic Conditions

The truth is, most medical doctors don't know much about nutrition, the microbiome, or food sensitivities. If you've hit a brick wall with conventional medicine, there's so much more we can do by exploring these three things.

Going Beyond Conventional Medicine

A new study has come out that says that psoriasis or eczema care with probiotics and prebiotics adds novel therapeutic approaches. We've also talked on previous shows about a study that came out from MIT and Mass General Hospital, and they've discovered that certain bacteria can lower cholesterol and reduce your heart disease risk. In addition to that, we know that certain probiotics and prebiotics can decrease your appetite. Finally, we know that we can use in-depth testing to help determine what's causing your GI issues.

Let's say you go to your doctor and tell them that you are having chronic GI issues. You're running to the bathroom all the time, and it's becoming hard to perform your job and be social. The doctor sends you to a specialist, and you suffer for 3-6 more months waiting to get in to see the specialist. You finally see the specialist, describe your symptoms, and they schedule an endoscopy and colonoscopy. After that, one of two things will happen. Either they'll tell you you have IBD, which stands for Irritable Bowel Disease and include's Chron's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, and you go on medication. Or, they find nothing and tell you that you have IBS, or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and you just have to deal with it.

If you're hitting a brick wall we can dig so much deeper. We can look at your microbiome, identify food sensitivities, and see if you are low on any micronutrients. By testing, we can figure out exactly which supplements you need and what you should eat. We want to get to the root cause of the problem and find exactly what is causing the issue.

Once we find the root cause, I'll put you on a protocol so we can go step-by-step and easily identify anything that isn't working. Eventually, I'm going to get you on the exact pro and prebiotics that you need for your system.

Does your microbiome need an oil change?

Are you dealing with joint pain, GI issues, weight loss resistance, headaches, and more? If you feel like you've tried everything and nothing is working, I'm here to tell you you don't have to settle for feeling bad. There's more we can do through testing, targeted supplmentation, and nutrition. Click the button below to sign up for a free 45-minute call to talk about a personalized nutrition plan.

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Weight Loss Resistance and Your Microbiome

Chances are, you've heard celebrities talking about weight loss drugs like Ozempic or you may even have friends who are taking them. If you're struggling with weight loss resistance and have tried everything to lose weight with no success, you may be considering them too. What you may not know is that those drugs have many side effects.

There are some probiotics that people are calling the "natural Ozempic." The pancreas secretes insulin to help lower blood sugar. There are probiotics available that can make more insulin and reduce blood sugar levels, which means you'll be less hungry. These probiotics can also send signals to the brain that indicate fullness.

There's an indirect relationship between the amount of Akkermansia in your system and whether or not you are weight loss resistant. So we're seeing people who have very low levels of akkermansia struggle to lose weight, yet our doctors are still telling us just to exercise more and eat less. Akkermansia isn't the only bacteria that impacts weight loss. There are also firmicutes and bacteriodetes. If the ratio between these two is off, it can lead to weight loss resistance.

Using the Microbiome for Specific Conditions

A new study out of MIT shows that our microbiome can affect our cholesterol levels and reduce heart disease risk. That means we might be able to put you on a probiotic that's actually going to consume excess cholesterol. Another study came across my desk this week, Transforming Psoriasis Care: Probiotics and Prebiotics as a Novel Therapeutic Approach.

I've been talking about these things for years. Whether it is GI issues, joint pain, headaches, or brain fog, researchers are discovering that the microbiome can be the cause. We're doing these microbiome analyses to understand the microbiome's functional capabilities and find out who is in the gut, what they are doing, and what their function is. This will also give us insights into the impact that our diet has on the microbiome, which directs our treatment plans.

If we see a pathogen or an overgrowth like Candida we'll use herbal antimicrobials to get them out of your system or lower them to normal levels. We'll also use probiotics to bring up levels of bacteria that are lower than they should be. The ultimate goal is to restore balance to the microbiome and start building strength and resiliency with specific dietary changes and supplements.

The microbiome is the foundation of your health, almost like we think of the foundation of a home. A healthy microbiome contributes well to a functioning intestinal barrier, which we know is extremely important for health. A healthy microbiome has a low inflammatory load, so we can actually decrease inflammation if you're dealing with problems like joint pain.

It all starts in the gut. The diversity of bacteria is another important factor for the microbiome. We need to make sure that we are having proactive strains in your system instead of opportunistic bacteria that can cause problems. We also need to make sure that you're producing the right short chain fatty acids. These help us digest and absorb micronutrients, which are important to our mental and physical health.

When certain bacteria are low, it can cause neurological symptoms. We also know about psychobiotics now that help us produce feel-good hormones like serotonin and GABA. We know that there can be some cracks in our foundation, and that's why we need to be careful of what we're doing and fix those cracks.

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