I haven’t spent much time writing about the oral microbiome on this blog, mainly because most research has until recently focused on the microbial flora of the intestinal tract. It is the colon, after all, where the largest colonies of microbes, both beneficial and pathogenic, reside. But the mouth harbors the second largest quantities … Read More →
Abbreviations: BCM7: beta-casomorphin-7 FODMAP: fermentable Oligo-, Di- and Mono-saccharides and Polyols MCP1: monocyte chemotactic protein 1 MPO: myeloperoxidase NCGS: Non-celiac gluten sensitivity SIBO: small intestinal bacterial overgrowth Today’s post is about an Italian trial confirming that all may not be right with the Western world’s favorite grain. The study is titled Small Amounts of … Read More →
Cheshire Cat: Where are you going? Alice: Which way should I go? Cheshire Cat: That depends on where you are going. Alice: I don’t know. Cheshire Cat: Then it doesn’t matter which way you go. ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland Dear Dr. Aaron E. Carroll, You don’t know me from Adam, but I feel … Read More →
Abbreviations: CNS: central nervous system DNA: deoxyribonucleic acid DNMTs: DNA methyltranferases EAAT: excitatory amino acid transporter EAAT3: excitatory amino acid transporter 3 ENS: enteric nervous system FODMAP: Fermentable Oligo-, Di- and Mono-saccharides and Polyols GERD: gastroesophageal reflux disease GSH: glutathione IBS: irritable bowel syndrome LPSs: lipopolysaccharides SAM: S-adenosylmethionine SIFBO: small intestinal fungal and bacterial … Read More →
On February 13th of 2013, I published a post entitled Fibromyalgia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Endotoxemia. I made the case that the high prevalence of bowel dysfunction and fibromyalgia was no mere coincidence. In today’s post, I’ll present evidence from a preliminary study out of Spain implicating non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) as a possible trigger … Read More →
“Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.” Thomas Jefferson Abbreviations: BCM7: beta-casomorphin-7 C. albicans: Candida albicans FOS: fructooligosaccharide GERD: gastroesophageal reflux disease GI: gastrointestinal H. pylori: Helicobacter pylori, aka Campylobacter pylori IBS: irritable bowel syndrome LES: … Read More →
“We look for medicine to be an orderly field of knowledge and procedure. But it is not. It is an imperfect science, an enterprise of constantly changing knowledge, uncertain information, fallible individuals, and at the same time lives on the line. There is science in what we do, yes, but also habit, intuition, and … Read More →
This is a post I’ve been meaning to get to for a while now. Thyroid hormone impacts many areas of the body, including the GI tract, and in many cases the first symptoms of thyroid dysfunction are manifested here. To save myself a bit a typing, here is how I described the … Read More →
The study I’m going to cover today came out several weeks ago, but in draft form with watermarks splashed across its pages. (1) As I wanted to display some of the charts, I thought it best to wait until the finalized version was made available before blogging about it. This study was a randomized, … Read More →
Today I’m going to talk about some dietary changes that may offer some of you symptom relief from your gastrointestinal issues. This is not a cure for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth or inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. These disorders will require reducing gut pathogens and/or overgrowth of fungus like Candida … Read More →
Today I want to cover how gut pathogens can negatively impact the ability to digest food and regulate appetite. Here is an illustration of what should be, but oftentimes isn’t, absorbed in the digestive tract: Your ability to absorb nutrition is reliant on a healthy small intestine. If any part of the small … Read More →
It should surprise none of you that I consider weight dysregulation one of the many manifestations of gut dysbiosis. Obesity is associated with a whole host of disorders, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver. Much of what I’ve written about endotoxemia also applies to obesity. This isn’t to say that … Read More →
I just wanted to briefly highlight a Kaiser Permanente study that was reference number two in my last post. You can read and download the pdf here if you like. Kaiser Permanente, by the way, is the HMO I belong to. This multi-ethnic, 15-year study (1979 – 1993) followed 55,300 men and 65,271 women with … Read More →
This is the sixth post in my series on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Today I want to talk about those dietary factors that cause impaired intestinal motility and inflammation. I was hoping to include my thoughts on plant lectins in this post, but once I realized I was closer to writing a small book … Read More →
In part one of this series, I covered what small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is. This post will concern itself with the diseases it’s associated with. As always, association is not causation so SIBO may be along for the ride and not the initiating cause, or conversely, it might be. It can often be … Read More →