Sunday, November 14, 2010

Is Your Gut Helping You or Hurting You?

Dear Friends and Clients,

We all know that what we eat is important, but that is only the beginning. What happens next is major. There is nothing more fundamental to health and wellness than proper function in the digestive tract.

You probably never asked yourself the following questions; but the answers may have major consequences, like fatigue, frequent illnesses, depression, anxiety, insomnia, muscle or joint aches and many others,

Asking the right questions!

  • Do I have parasites, like giardia, E. histolytica, or whipworm in my intestines?
  • Do I have yeast overgrowth in my bowels?
  • Do I have overgrowth of toxin producing bacteria in my small bowel or colon?
  • Am I unable to digest my food completely because of insufficient digestive enzymes?
  • Do I have reactivity to gluten or dairy?

These 5 problems are very common BUT in order to treat them we need to be aware of them.

Testing or Basic Treatments?

Get started: Do a state of the art gastrointestinal stool test from my office and get answers.

Not ready for testing? If you want to work on your bowel health try some basic interventions. There is very little potential for negative effects and a very big upside potential Try

  • Probiotics
  • Natural Antibiotics
  • Digestive Enzymes
  • Eliminate dairy and gluten

Bring in the good guys!

Probiotics. Sometimes we need to supplement the beneficial bacteria that live in our intestines to improve our health and overall immune function. These are two of the major good bacteria.

Lactobacillus is very important in the small intestine and will dampen down overgrowth of yeast or toxic bacteria and will decrease inflammation and can improve absorption of nutrients.

Bifidobacter is a very important good bacteria found in the large bowel which produces lots of butyrate which lowers colon cancer risk.

Brands to consider: Culturelle- a lactobacillus gg, UltrafloraDF- high concentrations of both lactobacillus and bifidobacter VSL#3- very very high concentration for serious bowel issues.

Studies of Ulcerative colitis show cure rates up to 77% with VSL#3. Email me for references.

Knock out the Bad guys!

Natural Antibiotics. Many botanicals or other plant based substances can help dampen down bowel overgrowth of yeast and toxic bacteria. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Grapefruit seed extract controls both yeast and abnormal bowel bacterial overgrowth

Emulsified oil of oregano is also excellent for yeast and bacterial overgrowth in the intestinal tract.

Get it Digested!

If you can't digest it you don't get the nutrients!

Stomach enzymes: You may need more Hydrochloric Acid and Pepsin for the 1st stage of digestion

Intestinal Enzymes: You could be short on protease, lipase and amylase from the pancreas

Bile Salts: from the gall bladder to break down your fat may be inadequate.

Try Going off Allergic Foods!

We can be reactive to any food but the most common foods causing problems are

Gluten and Dairy.

Doing a trial of 3 to 4 weeks off gluten and dairy can be a life changing experience!

Even if you have no symptoms when you eat these foods!

Hope your intestines are doing all they can to help your immune system fight off winter colds and flu, reduce aches and pains, improve your spirits and make you the strongest and healthiest you can be.


BE WELL,

Dr. Ann