In last week’s newsletter, we explored postbiotics and their role in restoring gut health. Continuing with that conversation, this week’s newsletter will tackle the incredibly important short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) butyrate (which is a postbiotic) and it’s critical role in a healthy gut. Being a postbiotic, butyrate is one of the end products when your gut microbes ferment dietary fibers. Among the SCFAs, butyrate has garnered more attention because of its beneficial effects on cellular energy metabolism and intestinal homeostasis.
Although it is the least abundant among the short-chain fatty acids, it is still considered the most important.
The cells that line the large intestines, called colonocytes, use butyrate as their energy source so they can multiply and function normally. Without butyrate, these cells will just die. In addition to that, butyrate has anti-inflammatory properties that enhance intestinal barrier function (think prevent leaky gut!), and increase the immunity of the GI mucosa.
Summary of Butyrate Benefits
Fights inflammation
Aids in intestinal motility
Stimulates the absorption of water and sodium
Maintains the protective mucus layer of the intestines
Helps fight leaky gut
Because butyrate maintains and restores gut health, and fiber fermentation leads to butyrate production, it goes without saying that it is important that you have a good supply of dietary fiber. This way, your gut microbes are supercharged to produce butyrate.
However, not all people can tolerate eating a high-fiber diet. Gas is also produced when fiber is fermented, so this can cause flatulence, bloating, and stomach discomfort for some people. Others may experience either diarrhea or constipation.
So how can you increase butyrate in the gut when a high-fiber diet is not tolerated?
First, you can try a very gradual progression with fiber-rich foods–go slow and let your body adjust. Secondly, try a variety of sources of fiber-rich foods since you might tolerate some a lot better than others (this is known as biochemical individuality). Third, this is where butyrate supplementation comes in.
Specifically tributyrin.
According to research, tributyrin is more effective and easier to use than some other supplemental butyrate. Since butyric acid salts are easily absorbed in the small intestines, you need a form that can reach the large intestine as well.
Tributyrin has a high bioavailability–meaning the body absorbs it well and uses it as intended. So when you take tributyrin, there’s nothing wasted.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health! ~Rebecca
https://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.png00adminhttps://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.pngadmin2021-12-21 10:51:002021-12-02 10:52:55How to Restore Gut Health with Tributyrin
The butterfly-shaped gland in front of your neck–aka the thyroid–is a vital gland. Your thyroid gland creates, stores, and releases hormones which control your metabolism.
Metabolism is like a generator: using material from the food you eat and converting it into energy to provide power for your body to keep all your organs working and your body running smoothly.
The thyroid gland uses a mineral called iodine from food to create your thyroid hormones: T4 or thyroxine and T3 or triiodothyronine. These two hormones tell your cells the right speed in which to work in order to meet the energy demand of your body.
But, there’s more to the picture. The hypothalamus and pituitary gland (in your brain) also control the release of thyroid hormones. If T3 and T4 levels are low, the hypothalamus produces TSH-a hormone that stimulates the pituitary gland to release TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone). This TSH commands the thyroid to increase the production of thyroid hormones. So basically, your pituitary gland is your thyroid’s boss and your thyroid is responding to the hormonal messages received from your pituitary gland.
This works vice versa. If T3 and T4 are high in the blood, the pituitary gland releases less TSH so that the thyroid gland also releases less thyroid hormones (so the pituitary gland does listen and respond to the feedback provided by the hormones in your blood).
What Thyroid Hormones Do
Thyroid hormones are very important because they affect almost every cell of your body. Remember, they control metabolism. When you have low T3 and T4, your heart rate slows down, your digestion slows down…You may have a hard time processing the food you ate, so you’ll probably end up with constipation and weight gain. The opposite occurs if you have high T3 and T4. Your heart tends to beat rapidly, you may have diarrhea, and weight loss.
In a nutshell, when your thyroid doesn’t work properly, it throws off just about everything else in your body and symptoms are going to start popping up.
There are different diseases that can impact your thyroid’s function. It can either be a tumor, an autoimmune disease, or iodine deficiency or excess. Whichever it is, two conditions can happen with regard to your thyroid hormone production: hypothyroidism (too little thyroid hormone in the body) and hyperthyroidism (too much thyroid hormone in the body).
I encourage you to take a look at the mineral iodine to support optimal thyroid function. Since iodine is what is needed to make thyroid hormones, it is important to get 150 mcg of iodine/day as recommended by the National Institute of Health.
In addition to keeping the thyroid healthy, iodine is also essential for brain development in utero and in infancy.
Unfortunately, about 2 billion people around the globe have an iodine deficiency.
Best Sources of Iodine
The best sources of iodine are fish and other seafood, sea vegetables (nori, kelp, wakame), dairy products (yogurt, cheese), and iodized salt.
If you are looking to add non-food iodine, pure iodine solution contains easy-to-absorb iodine that you can take orally for your thyroid or even topically as a spray to give your skin added protection.
Of course, if you have any underlying disease condition (like autoimmune thyroid), talk with a healthcare professional first before trying anything. I also recommend functional testing on a regular basis to see what your iodine levels are so that you can see if supplementation beyond diet-rich iodine foods makes sense for you.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health! ~Rebecca
https://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.png00adminhttps://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.pngadmin2021-12-07 10:48:002021-12-02 10:49:41Iodine Support for Thyroid Health
Today we’re going to dig into an awesome gut healing food called kimchi. Kimchi is a world-famous traditional side dish in Korea.This food has rich historical roots: It is mentioned in many ancient Korean journals dating back thousands of years ago!
From being incredibly sour to crazy spicy, accompanied with that pungent odor–kimchi has a unique and delicious taste. In addition, kimchi is a fermented food and is therefore helpful to the friendly bacteria in your gut.
And your gut is at the root of your health!
Your gut is where you take all the good stuff you eat and drink and transform it into the many building blocks your body needs to make energy, think clearly, sleep well, maintain a healthy weight, build muscle, fight infections, and clear out toxins that need clearing out daily so you can thrive.
So it’s great to know about different foods that you can eat to add to the diversity of friendly bugs in your gut…like kimchi! So, kimchi is made from fermented Napa or Chinese cabbages along with other veggies, onion, garlic, spring onions, and gochugaru (ground Korean chili powder).
Let’s look at some benefits in the research of regularly eating kimchi:
Improves Digestion
Improved digestion is the first obvious benefit of regularly eating kimchi. The lactobacilli (one of your good gut bugs) gets depleted when you are stressed and have an unhealthy lifestyle (eating processed foods, not drinking enough water, not getting enough sleep, not exercising regularly) causing you to have indigestion or diarrhea. Kimchi is rich in fiber and lactobacilli that help restore proper digestion.
Boosts the Immune System
Did you know that 75% of your immunity is found in your gut?! Your gut, which is home to countless microorganisms, is your very first defense against disease-causing microbes that enter your body through the mouth.
Eating fermented foods, such as kimchi, strengthens immune system
May Slow Down the Aging Process
Kimchi is rich in antioxidants–the secret to slowing wear and tear on your cells resulting in fewer outer and inner signs of aging. Think of oxidative stress like this: you know when you cut open and apple and shortly afterward it turns brown? That’s oxidative damage/stress. Antioxidants fight this rapid aging brought on by stress and pollution from the environment.
May Help With Weight Release
Kimchi is created with ingredients that are densely packed with nutrients: Napa cabbage itself contains vitamins A and C, at least 10 different minerals, and more than 34 amino acids!
What makes the vegetables in kimchi good for weight loss is that they are low in calories but high in satiating fiber–meaning you get full more easily. The lactobacillus in kimchi may also support weight balance.
May Fight Inflammation and Cancer
The ingredients in kimchi have anti-inflammatory properties and, as mentioned, are full of antioxidants. They promote your overall health and fight inflammatory illnesses and cancer. Cabbage in particular contains indole-3-carbinol, a powerful drug against colon cancer.
I did a little search and found this easy recipe on how to make kimchi. If it interests you, head over to this blog and learn to make kimchi on your own. It is also sold in many stores (look for organic and preferably in glass jars).
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health! ~Rebecca
https://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.png00adminhttps://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.pngadmin2021-03-03 09:37:002021-02-11 09:38:10Surprising Benefits of Eating Kimchi
You’ve probably heard about something called cannabinoids before, usually in reference to cannabis or marijuana. But did you know that your body produces its own cannabinoids?
It’s true! Your body has what’s called an endocannabinoid system–a complex system of naturally produced cannabinoids in the body. These endocannabinoids, as they are called, stimulate the cannabinoid receptors found in the different parts of the body.
The endocannabinoid system is involved in a lot of your body processes such as appetite, digestion, mood, the sensation of pain, inflammation, and even your memory.
When you take a cannabinoid such as the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC or cannabidiol (CBD), they fit into your cannabinoid receptors and affect the level of your neurotransmitters which ultimately affects how your brain cells communicate with each other. But as I mentioned, your own body makes cannabinoids–endo, means made within, hence the name endocannabinoid. Your brain makes these cannabinoids and they circulate throughout your body and attach to receptors to help your body in some way. Let’s explore how.
CBD and Digestion
Can CBD (derived from the hemp plant) help with digestion? Yes. Many researchers believe that the ECS (endocannabinoid system) is the link in the brain-gut axis. It allows communication between the central nervous system (CNS) and the enteric nervous system (ENS). The CNS is your brain and spinal cord while your ENS runs from your esophagus to your rectum. Both of them speak the same language, using the same receptors, neurons, and neurotransmitters.
Moreover, cannabinoid receptors are found in the entire GI tract. These systems work together closely.
In summary, the ECS affects your gut in three major ways:
Modulate inflammation–The cannabinoid receptors, when stimulated by certain cannabinoids, help in protecting the gut from inflammation.
Regulates digestive action–Proper gut motility ensures all food is digested and nutrients are well absorbed. Cannabinoids found in plants can stimulate the cannabinoid receptors so that nausea and vomiting are prevented. This calms the stomach and even decreases excess stomach acid. Much of the research shows that the endocannabinoid system regulates nausea and vomiting in humans and other animals.
Regulates communication to your brain–As I mentioned earlier, the ECS links the brain and gut. When you are stressed or in pain, this alters your digestive function. When you have GI problems, this is communicated back to the brain.
4 Ways to Support your ECS
To support your ECS for gut health, take these tips into consideration:
Manage your stress. Although it’s the ECS that helps regulate your stress response, chronic stress will deplete the ability of your ECS to do so. So take it easy. Make sure you have time to relax, rest, and recuperate. HeartMath, meditation, tai chi, yoga, and breathing exercises are all great ways to support your ECS.
Limit alcohol consumption. Heavy drinking of alcohol definitely impairs the ability of your cannabinoid receptors to process cannabinoids.
Eat dietary cannabinoids. These are found in cruciferous vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, and cabbage. Fatty fish, nuts, and seeds also contain fatty acids–like Omega 3 fatty acids–that are building blocks for endocannabinoids. Herbs and spices such as rosemary, black pepper, clove, and basil, are good sources, too!
Take a CBD supplement. CBD is a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. CBD oil is natural and non-harmful. Thus you can use it for the long-term. You can check out the many health benefits of CBD oil by following this link.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health! ~Rebecca
https://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.png00adminhttps://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.pngadmin2020-10-15 07:00:502020-10-15 07:00:52How CBD Can Help Your Gut
Stomach acid or gastric juice is vital in digestion, particularly in breaking down proteins. An average adult produces 1.5 liters of stomach acid every day.
More than 30% of men and women over 60 secrete little to no stomach acid.
40% of postmenopausal women were not secreting stomach acid at all.
Close to 40% of women over 80 were not producing hydrochloric acid during digestion.
Researchers in Japan found that 60% of men and women over 50 were not producing stomach acid during digestion.
This is telling us that when we reach a certain age, our body stops producing stomach acid. This condition is called achlorhydria. But you can also suffer from low stomach acid, hypochlorhydria, at any age.
So what does this mean for you?
Even if you eat a healthy meal, your body won’t receive its benefits because you don’t have the gastric juice to properly digest it and absorb the nutrients, especially Vitamin B-12.
In addition to age, risk factors to hypochlorhydria include taking antacids, chronic stress, a diet that is poor in zinc, a bacterial infection called H. pylori, and having undergone stomach surgery.
If you are exposed to these risk factors or experience some of the symptoms below, you may have low stomach acid.
Symptoms
Symptoms of low stomach acid are far-reaching. At first they may start with indigestion and vitamin and mineral deficiencies. That creates havoc to your overall system as every organ of your body depends on these vitamins and minerals to function well. You may experience the following:
Weak fingernails and thinning of hair
Heartburn
Paleness
Weakness
Behavioral changes
Vision loss
Undigested food in stool
Bloating
Gas
Frequent burping
Nausea while taking supplements
Osteoporosis
Depression
Headaches
Poor sleep
Muscle cramps
Blood sugar imbalance or diabetes
Prevention and Support
Understanding the causes and symptoms of hypochlorhydria is already half the battle. You can now create ways to support your gut for the prevention and improvement of hypochlorhydria. Your diet is a good start.
A diet that mostly consists of processed foods, sugar, and chemicals won’t do your gut any good, so avoid or limit these “foods”.
The following strategies will help your gut, but it is important to work with a practitioner so that it is individualized and appropriate for you:
Taking 1 teaspoon-1 tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar with water before meals improves digestion and stomach pH in the long run (be sure to have ruled out H. pylori, ulcers, etc. first as certain conditions can worsen with ACV!!).
Taking probiotics may support your gut to heal. The increase in helpful gut bacteria aids the gut to function properly, producing the right amount of digestive enzymes and gastric juice. (If you have diarrhea or SIBO, speak with your practitioner to pick the right probiotic formula).
Increasing fermented foods gives your gut a wide variety of probiotic strains that help your gut to run smoothly. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and kombucha are examples, and you can find more here.
Eating slowly and making sure you’ve chewed your food thoroughly before swallowing allows your gut to produce/secrete the gastric juice and digestive enzymes as well as supports the entire digestive system.
Your gut is at the root of your overall health, and I’m here to help you learn how to take care of it.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health, so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully. I hope that today’s suggestions are helpful to you. If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health! ~Rebecca
https://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.png00adminhttps://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.pngadmin2020-07-24 09:21:372020-08-06 06:58:55Do You Know the Symptoms of Low Stomach Acid?
Most Americans today use soybean oil for cooking, baking, and drizzling. In 2019, Americans consumed 11 metric tons of soybean oil!!! Today we’ll explore how soybean oil can be hazardous for your health and what to use instead.
Using traditional animal fats nowadays seem to be unwelcome. You see, people have replaced these fats–lard, tallow, and butter–with plant-based oils because people have been misguided into thinking that animal fats are unhealthy and plant-based oils are far healthier.
I can see why it’s confusing.
Soybean oil is low in saturated fat, so most Americans see this as a healthy option. But saturated fats are, in fact, healthy and are much better than unstable polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) oils–most especially in cooking.
Soybean Oil is Unstable
Soybean oil is high in unstable PUFAs. Well, PUFAs are not all bad for you. Actually, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are good. But not all PUFAs are created equal. There are types that are highly unstable, easily oxidized (damaged by oxygen), and pro-inflammatory.
I’m talking about linoleic acid–a bad fat. And soybean oil is half linoleic acid.
Linoleic acid is already bad news, but when you heat it, it’s worse! It generates oxidized lipids (fats) which cause inflammation in the bloodstream, leading to heart diseases and the hardening of your arteries (atherosclerosis).
Soy, Digestion, & Thyroid
Soy products are not easily digested which can cause gas, bloating, and damage to your gut (which can weaken your immune response). Soy can also interfere with proper thyroid function (your metabolic regulator). And… 93% of soy is genetically modified and while we won’t truly know the long-term effects on health for years to come, preliminary data shows that GMO foods interfere with the healthy balance of your gut flora.
Soy, Obesity & Diabetes
The massive use of soybean oil has led to an increase in the number of people suffering from obesity and diabetes as well.
This occurs, in part, because soybean oil disrupts normal hypothalamus function.
By that, I mean soybean oil manages to alter the genes of the hypothalamus, impairing the healthy functions of your organs and hormones.
The hypothalamus is a small region at the base of the brain that is responsible for many functions, such as regulating hormones through your pituitary gland, regulating your temperature, controlling your appetite, and managing your sexual behavior among other roles.
In other words, the hypothalamus is the control center of the brain. And the soybean oil which many believe to be healthy is disturbing its function.
One of the genes that soybean alter is the OXT gene, the one that makes oxytocin. Oxytocin is known as your love hormone, but it is also critically important to your gut health. Oxytocin regulates motility (lack of oxytocin can contribute to constipation, for example), inflammation, and gut lining maintenance.
So what does this all mean?
Long-term intake of soybean oil leads to chronic illnesses by interfering with proper gut function, immune function, thyroid function, and brain function.
I encourage you to intentionally reduce your consumption of soybean oil–read labels at the grocery store and go through your pantry and freezer. Many sauces, dressings, baked and canned goods contain soybean oil.
Most restaurants also use soybean oil, so that’s another reason you may steer away from fried foods when eating out.
When cooking at home, choose natural fats like tallow, lard, duck fat, grass-fed butter and ghee. If you want plant-based oils, have coconut, avocado oil, and olive oil.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca
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Today I’d like to talk with you about in internal teeter totter you might not have even known you had…and that’s between your gut/immune system and your detoxification system. Now, we could keep this simple or get really complex. I don’t know how you’re doing with our current pandemic, but chances are, your mental bandwidth is a bit tapped out at the moment, so I’d like to keep today’s health tip nice and simple.
You know by now that the gut is the root of your health. It’s where roughly 80% of your immune system is.
All your systems work together to keep you alive (and hopefully healthy). They all require energy to run. When one part is under more demand, your body will divert energy to deal with that increased demand. For example, if your body was working on detoxifying some chemicals that you had inhaled (i.e. pollution) and you all of a sudden accidentally cut yourself or fell down and hurt yourself, your body is going to shift priorities!
Likewise, if your body is busy building more white blood cells and addressing an infection and you take in toxins through your diet (i.e. sugar, processed flour, vegetable oils, pesticides), your body is going to shift some energy away from your immune system to address those toxins. Like a teeter totter, both sides aren’t going to be all the way up at the same time!
An action that you can take to balance and support your immune system right now is to reduce the work that your body has to do to detoxify by eliminating or limiting the amount of toxins coming into your body on a day by day basis.
3 tips to support your immune system teeter totter
Drink plenty of filtered water daily. Water helps to flush toxins AND support your immune system…but not if it’s full of toxins. Check here for what toxins were tested in your local water supply.
Eat clean, unprocessed food. Processed foods are full of energy-draining chemicals (trans fats, vegetable oils, sugar, food coloring, pesticides, synthetic additives)…and they are deficient in the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function properly. The more simple you can keep your food, the better. Eat whole foods rather than processed versions (chicken versus chicken nuggets).
Set up mealtimes rather than eating all day. Digestion takes a lot of energy and your digestive system needs a break! If you are eating more often than every 3 hrs, you may need to make some adjustments to what you are eating. I know that in the past when I ate a lot of carbs and not enough fat (for my body), I was constantly hungry! When I tested myself and discovered that my body needed a different approach and then made those changes, I got much better results.
I hope that these tips are helpful for you to keep your body strong and healthy!
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca
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Your liver is one of the most hardworking organs of your entire body. It’s to-do list seems endless!
It manufactures bile to help in the digestion and absorption of fats (and fat-soluble vitamins), filters the blood–detoxifying it from chemicals, metabolizing drugs and filtering & removing hormones, is involved in thyroid hormone conversion for proper thyroid function, stores vitamins and minerals (A, D, E, K, B12, iron and copper), and makes angiotensinogen (a hormone that raises blood pressure). It’s quite the busy bee!
The liver is undeniably very important to your overall health and well-being. This is the reason why liver cleansing or detox has become so popular.
But is it really worth it? And what is liver cleansing really all about?
Since the liver is your body’s natural detoxifier, several practitioners believe that over time, chemicals and toxins accumulate in the liver and damage it. The result: a liver that does not function optimally, leading to a variety of non-specific symptoms and serious diseases such as cancer.
Support Your Liver…and The Rest of You
While I do think that some of the methods for supporting liver detox are excellent, like castor oil packs and dietary changes to reduce toxins coming into your body, they are helpful because they support more than just the liver all by itself. According to the author of The Detox Diet, Elson Haas, MD, we cannot really individually cleanse or detoxify a particular organ separately. Instead, think of liver cleansing or detox as more of a whole body cleansing.
If you want a healthy liver, gear your actions towards an overall healthy body.
5 Easy Ways to Support Detox
By doing small tweaks to your diet and changing some practices to support liver health, you will soon, eventually, create a lifestyle that nourishes the liver and optimizes its ability to do a great job.
Eat clean, organic food (basically, reduce the toxins that are coming into your body)…and while you’re at it, get tested so you know the precise foods that are optimal for YOUR body (ask me how)
Hydrate with clean, filtered water (about half your body weight in ounces daily…work up to this slowly if you are currently not even close to this amount)
Again, small tweaks in your diet and lifestyle add up to much more than a one-time, intense cleanse.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca
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Would you believe that not all probiotics are good?
Though probiotics have received a lot of attention over the years for their gut-friendly benefits and overall impact to well-being, it is unfortunate to say that some brands are not only not helpful, but may even make your symptoms worse.
According to the World Health Organization, probiotics are “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.”
If you have been reading my newsletters, you know how much I recommend customizing gut support. This may include probiotics because of their ability to keep support a diverse gut bug environment and in turn make your immune system and digestive system strong. A healthy gut gives you more benefits than any other area of health which is why it is considered to be the root of all health (or disease if it isn’t working well).
So in this newsletter, I will shed some light on how you can find a probiotic that actually works for your gut, so you get the maximum benefits.
First, in order for a probiotic to be effective, it must be “alive.” It sounds funny that I should emphasize that because, by definition, probiotics are, in fact, live microorganisms.
Probiotic Essentials
Here’s the gist:
Some probiotics are not bottled in a way that they can survive supplement production or resist the acidity of the stomach. So they are dead even before you take them or by the time they reach the colon, and you have wasted your money on something that you thought could benefit you.
Second, for a probiotic to be effective, it must contain identified strains of bacteria that were proven to provide health benefits to humans. It’s not just about taking something that has a high level of bacteria per serving (in probiotics, this is called CFU or colony forming units). More CFU’s doesn’t mean it’s better or more effective.
Remember that each species of bacteria has thousands of strains. Some have no proven benefits to human health, while others remain unstudied.
All you need are the bacterial strains that have proven benefits and that can survive bottling preparations and the acidic journey towards the colon.
I recommend spore-based probiotics because they are specifically designed to make it through the acidic environment of the stomach. Spores are the building blocks of a new cell and they can remain dormant for a long time and “hatch” or “come to life” in the intestines where they can colonize, increase the diversity of the microbiome, and boost your immune system.
Again, they are more effective than ordinary probiotics because they have an endospore or outer shell that keeps the strains highly resistant to stomach acid.
I also recommend specifically the spore form of the bacillus strains. The benefits are powerful!
One bacillus strain, Bacillus Indicus HU36(TM), produces important nutrients at the absorption site of your intestines. These nutrients are lycopene, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, beta carotene, and lutein. It’s considered to be the most effective antioxidant probiotic strain on the market.
Bacillus strains can fight SIBO or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. SIBO causes diarrhea, bloating, stomach pain among other symptoms. Other probiotics might increase SIBO, but there are specific bacillus strains that don’t such as Bacillus Clausii.
Overall, spore-based bacillus strains are helpful if you are on the journey to healing your gut so that you can reap the maximum benefits of a healthy microbiome.
I pick brands that I believe are worth the price and get the best health benefits. So with probiotics, I choose MegaSpore Biotic by Microbiome Labs. They have tons of legit research to back up their claims and I’ve seen great results with it.
It is recommended that you ease in with new probiotics rather than starting at the full amount on the label and I doubly recommend working with a practitioner to get the most out of your supplementation.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health! ~Rebecca
https://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.png00adminhttps://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.pngadmin2020-02-21 06:22:432020-02-21 06:22:43How to Choose the Best Probiotic
You’ve heard that one person’s medicine is another person’s poison, but did you know that one person’s health food is another person’s junk food?
Millions of Americans suffer from at least one food intolerance/sensitivity. You can be intolerant to any food: apples, lettuce, chicken, and even olive oil. Besides making it impossible to lose weight, food and food chemical intolerance has been found to play a role in many chronic health conditions including:
Celiac Disease
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Fibromyalgia
Autism Spectrum Disorders
ADD/ADHD
Bloating
Gas
Headaches & migraines
Fatigue
Weight imbalances
Cravings
Skin conditions such as eczema
Heartburn/GERD
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Joint and muscle pain
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Chronic diarrhea
Constipation
Food intolerance is also considered a major stressor to the adrenal glands. Unhealthy adrenals can wreak havoc on gut health, immune system, detoxification capabilities, hormones, fertility and muscle and fat gain and loss.
What is food intolerance?
Food intolerance is a negative reaction to food that happens when your body is hypersensitive to a food and launches an attack OR because your body lacks the ability to break down a food (as in lactose intolerance when the person doesn’t make enough enzyme to break down the lactose sugar in dairy).
When your body launches an attack on food, it does so with something called mediators. These are chemicals from your immune system such as eosinophils, basophils, neutrophils macrophages, T-cells and NK cells. Think of them as different departments within your immune system. Sometimes one mediator “department” will attack while others will not. This is one reason why it is hard to pick up on food intolerance: a small amount of the trigger food may not always cause an obvious symptom even though every time the trigger food is consumed, your mediators are attacking it (sometimes it will cause a big war with lots of symptoms and other times, it’s smaller).
When we eat foods we are intolerant/sensitive to, it causes systemic disruption and can cause chronic inflammation in the body resulting in a variety of symptoms (see above).
The difference between food intolerance and allergies
Food intolerance is different than food allergies in a couple of ways. One is the way that the body responds and the other is the speed in which the body responds.
With an allergy, your body’s immune system (mast cells) reacts to the offending food very soon after exposure. Food allergies occur in 2-4% of the population. The body releases histamine, prostaglandins and other pro-inflammatory mediators. If you have a strong enough allergic reaction, exposure to the allergic food can result in life-threatening anaphylaxis. Because the reaction occurs so quickly after exposure to the allergic food, most people who have food allergies are well aware of what they are allergic to.
Food intolerance or sensitivity can be much trickier since the reaction is delayed. You can also have a food intolerance that doesn’t give you clear symptoms unless you have a lot of it or eat it a few days in a row (as I mentioned). This is why it can be so challenging to figure out!
The other thing that is important to mention is that food intolerance/sensitivity happens when we lose something called “oral tolerance”. Oral tolerance is when your immune system can tell the difference and not attack food proteins, but instead attacks disease-causing bacteria and other pathogens or chemicals that are harmful. In other words, your immune system works well and attacks what shouldn’t be there and it isn’t triggered by many of the foods you are eating. When you lose oral tolerance, it’s because your immune system (your gut is your largest immune organ!) is NOT functioning properly and it is attacking proteins from your food. It’s seeing everything as an enemy and wants to attack!
Your gut is home to your immune cells that are responsible for oral tolerance. A disturbance in your gut leads to loss of oral tolerance and the result is that you have symptoms and an ever decreasing set of food options.
Food intolerance pathways
This next part gets a bit geeky so feel free to skip to the next section it if that’s not your thing.
There are many, many ways that the body can react to an intolerance because there are multiple hypersensitivity pathways. The four main categories of hypersensitivity are: Type I, II, III and IV. Types III and IV are much more common in people than Type I reactions; 15-25% of population compared to 2-4%.
Type I hypersensitivity categorizes true food allergies as given in the above example. It is also called an IgE reaction.
Type II hypersensitivity has not been found to be linked to adverse reactions to food.
Type III hypersensitivity includes IgG reactions (commonly tested for by most food intolerance tests). Type III reactions usually take place 3-8 hours after exposure.
Type IV hypersensitivity is the most common pathway for adverse food reactions and yet many tests do not test for Type IV reactions. In Type IV reactions, the T-cells react with offensive foods and symptoms occur anywhere from 4-72 hours after exposure. Herein lies the challenge with identifying delayed food intolerances. How many people are going to make the connection between not feeling well with what they ate 72 hours earlier?
Finding out if you have a food intolerance
There are several ways to detect what you are intolerant to. You may already know that there are certain things that make you feel crummy when you eat them. There are also blood tests such as serum IgG and Type IV test. These offer the broadest spectrum of pinning down food intolerance trigger foods. Oxford Labs offers a test called the MRT (Mediator Release Test), which is currently considered one of the best, most accurate food intolerance tests (also tests for food chemicals). This test is offered through licensed nutritionists such as myself with special certification in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition™ and Metabolic Typing™.
Recovering from food intolerance
To heal your body and keep oral tolerance, you’ll need to get a good plan for replacing your trigger foods with gut healing, anti-inflammatory foods. Getting those stressful foods out of your diet for awhile AND repairing the damage to your gut may allow you to eat them later without it causing inflammation and all those other symptoms we talked about. The goal is to eat a diverse amount of foods.
Here’s an overview:
Eat a variety of foods, especially fresh produce. You may get tempted to opt for easy-to-cook processed foods on a daily basis, but you have to be intentional in choosing higher quality foods that are right for YOUR body.
Get to the root of what’s damaging your gut. High sugar, artificial sweeteners, trans fats, lack of sleep, unmanaged stress, environmental and food chemicals, and infections all disrupt your gut microbiome. You can learn more here about leaky gut and how to fix it.
Have a healthy and active lifestyle. Make sure you are doing enough exercise regularly, getting ample sleep, and managing your stress appropriately.
Tailor a healing protocol. Your diet can be customized according to your needs. You can eliminate foods that you’re sensitive to for a time and introduce them gradually back to your diet one at a time once you have repaired your gut, restored proper immune function, and your digestion is working well again.
Your body is designed to be healthy. Sometimes it needs a bit of extra help so you can look and feel your best. As you now know, food intolerance is a major obstacle that may be getting in your way and causing you symptoms. You don’t need to keep wasting your time and energy struggling and guessing.
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully. Part of helping you do that is to help you have the healthiest gut possible.
If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you! Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health! ~Rebecca
https://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.png00adminhttps://choosinghealthnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/apple.pngadmin2020-02-20 13:53:472020-02-20 13:53:48The truth about food sensitivity and allergies
