24 02, 2017

Suffer from chronic health issues? Eat real food!

2017-12-01T22:50:10-08:00By |Categories: Digestive Health, Functional Medicine, Nutrition|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Suffer from chronic health issues? Eat real food!

When you’re starting on a new health journey, knowing what to eat can seem confusing. For starters, there is a ton of conflicting advice out there, with proponents of each diet insisting their diet is the healthiest.

Suffer from chronic health issues? Eat real food!The truth is, the best diet depends on which one works best for you. Factors that depends on include your individual food sensitivities, digestive health , blood sugar handling, and stress handling.

In functional medicine we follow general guidelines that focus on whole foods, remove foods to which you are intolerant, and to stabilize blood sugar. Beyond that, your history, lab tests, and current condition guides you in a customized diet.

A custom diet plan starts with real food

With customization tips in mind, one basic rule still applies across the board: Eat whole foods.

When you eliminate foods that have been through processing (like breakfast cereal or chips), foods with artificial colorings, additives, and preservatives, and foods laden with industrialized fats and too much sugar, you are already on solid ground nutritionally.

This means stick largely to the produce, meat, and nut sections in the grocery store. Use healthy, natural […]

9 02, 2017

What is Leaky Gut and Why Should You Care

2017-12-01T22:54:24-08:00By |Categories: Digestive Health, Leaky Gut Syndrome|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on What is Leaky Gut and Why Should You Care

Is leaky gut as bad as it sounds? Does stuff really leak out of your intestines? The truth is, contents of the small intestine do escape through the wall into the bloodstream. It also can be pretty bad by way of triggering many different inflammatory disorders and autoimmune disease, a disease in which the immune system attacks and destroys body tissue.

What is Leaky GutLeaky gut is associated with symptoms including:

  • Skin problems (eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, acne, etc.)
  • Chronic pain
  • Autoimmune disease
  • Puffiness, fatigue
  • Brain fog
  • Depression
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Poor memory
  • Asthma
  • Food allergies and sensitivities
  • Seasonal allergies
  • Fungal infections
  • Migraines
  • Arthritis
  • PMS and other hormonal issues

Leaky gut, also referred to as intestinal permeability in the research, means the lining of the small intestine has become inflamed, damaged, and overly porous. This allows undigested foods, bacteria, molds, and other pathogens to enter into the sterile environment of the bloodstream. The immune system attacks these compounds, triggering inflammation that, when constant, turns into chronic health disorders.

Leaky gut now on the research radar

Conventional medicine once believed leaky gut wasn’t a valid concept, but researchers now validate it as linked with many chronic disorders, […]

21 07, 2016

The Underlying Causes of Allergies

2017-12-18T22:25:35-08:00By |Categories: Allergies, Digestive Health, Leaky Gut Syndrome|Tags: , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on The Underlying Causes of Allergies

The Underlying Causes of AllergiesThe beginning of Spring and Summer seems like a good thing until your allergies go haywire. If you’re tired of allergy medications and always feeling stuffed up and zonked out, consider lasting relief by healing your gut to balance your immune system.

For many people it is hard to believe that your digestive tract can affect your allergies. The digestive tract serves as a hub for the immune system. When you’ve got allergies, it’s worth investigating gut health.

One of the most common links to allergies is leaky gut, also known as intestinal permeability. Leaky gut is like it sounds — the lining of the small intestine becomes inflamed, damaged, and leaky, allowing undigested foods, bacteria, yeasts, and other toxins into the bloodstream.

Whenever this happens, which can be with every meal, the immune system attacks these invaders. This causes inflammation and an over zealous immune state that plays a role in triggering or exacerbating seasonal allergies.

Some people get seasonal allergies, but others get other inflammatory disorders, such as joint pain, skin problems, digestive complaints, autoimmune disease, issues with brain function, fatigue, […]

23 03, 2016

Leaky Gut — 11 Different Causes and How it Can Wreck Your Life

2017-12-01T21:54:52-08:00By |Categories: Digestive Health, Leaky Gut Syndrome|Tags: , , , , , , , , |Comments Off on Leaky Gut — 11 Different Causes and How it Can Wreck Your Life

Leaky Gut -- 11 Different Causes and How it Can Wreck Your LifeIf you’ve been doing internet searches to learn how to manage a chronic health condition, chances are you’re heard of leaky gut. Leaky gut is what it sounds like — the lining of the intestines have become “leaky,” allowing undigested foods, bacteria, and other undesirables into the sterile bloodstream.

This causes system-wide inflammation that becomes chronic health issues: autoimmune diseases such as Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, chronic pain, brain fog, food allergies and sensitivities, depression, eczema, asthma, and myriad other complaints.

It makes sense, then, that people want to heal leaky gut.

However, it’s best to know why you have leaky gut first. That way you’re not chasing down the wrong remedies.

Eleven causes of leaky gut

Although we understand the role of leaky gut in chronic health disorders, the underlying causes of leaky gut itself can be harder to pin down.

Here are the causes we know about:

  1. Many inflammatory foods damage the intestinal walls, leading to leaky gut. Gluten in particular is associated with leaky gut. Dairy, processed foods, excess sugar, and fast foods are other culprits.
  2. Excess
25 11, 2015

There is a Mass Extinction of Species Happening in Your Gut

2017-12-01T22:56:13-08:00By |Categories: Digestive Health|Tags: , , , , , , , |Comments Off on There is a Mass Extinction of Species Happening in Your Gut

You probably already know the planet is experiencing an extinction crisis; scientists estimate we’ll lose up to 50 percent of current species during the next 20 years. But did you know there’s also an extinction crisis of gut bacteria happening among civilized humans?

The modern diet, which is high in processed foods, meats and sugars, but very low in plant fiber appears to have killed off a rich diversity of gut bacteria on which our health depends. Chronic stress also kills off the good bacteria. The result? Inflammation and chronic disease.

Low fiber kills bacteria and increases inflammation

There is a Mass Extinction of Species Happening in Your GutTo prove the point, one study changed the diets of African Americans, who have a high risk of colon cancer, and native Africans in South Africa. They put the African Americans on a native diet high in plant fiber and the native Africans on a typical American diet high in processed foods and meats.

The researchers quickly saw a decrease in colon inflammation in the Americans eating increased fiber, and an increase in colon inflammation in the South Africans on a standard American diet.

In fact, studies […]

22 07, 2015

Keep Your Gut Healthy While Traveling Abroad

2017-12-01T20:40:17-08:00By |Categories: Digestive Health|Tags: , , , , , , |Comments Off on Keep Your Gut Healthy While Traveling Abroad

Keep Your Gut Healthy While Traveling AbroadNothing refreshes the mental landscape better than an exciting trip to a foreign land. However, nothing can have you regretting that adventure more than being glued to the toilet with traveler’s diarrhea or vomiting instead of traipsing through temples and markets.

With some advance planning and knowledge about gut health, stomach bugs, and supplements that can protect your gut, you may be able to breeze through your trip without days-long sessions in the hotel bathroom.

Nix stomach bugs with hydrochloric acid

Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is the acid in the stomach. You can also obtain it in a supplement. Why would you want to take an acid when it seems everyone is taking antacids? Because it’s our first line of defense against stomach bugs and can help prevent traveler’s diarrhea.

It may surprise you to know that many adults are deficient in HCl, especially the ones who suffer from acid reflux and pop antacids. This is because if stomach acid is low, food in the stomach is improperly digested. This lack of acidity also fails to trigger the valves that usher the food into the intestines. As a […]

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