Hippocrates was right ….”All Disease Begins in the Gut.”

Modern scientific researchers are figuring out just why that’s so.

I’d like to share with you a few of my favorite nutrition supplements for gut health.

MegaSporeBiotic probiotic — foundational for gut microbiome rebalancing, maintaining gut lining and more!

Cal-Mag Butyrate — foundational for reducing inflammation, detoxifying and maintaining gut lining and more!

Histamine-Digest (Umbrellux-DAO) — for clearing histamines in the gut and histamine symptom relief.

MegaSporeBiotic

Microorganisms in your gut are the “commanding officers” that give orders and send messages throughout your body that control your health.

If your gut ecology is “off” then their communications so will be communications, which will affect your health and well-being. Everything is affected, from nutrient absorption to hormonal balance, from mood and cognitive function to weight management, from your immune health to your energy levels and even your ability to sleep well.

So, how do we get our the ecology of our gut microbes back in balance? One of the best ways is with a clinically studied spore-based probiotic like MegaSporeBiotic, which crowds out the “bad” bacteria, and supports the growth of the “good guys” that are under-populated. It’s different from most other probiotics.

Most other probiotics contain strains that don’t survive the “trip” through the GI tract. MegaSporeBiotic is different…it gets where it needs to be and is not destroyed by stomach acid.

MegaSporeBiotic also helps to heal the gut by reducing inflammation, healing leaky gut, producing key nutrients like antioxidants, B-Vitamins and Vitamin K2 and increasing short chain fatty acids like butyrate. MegaSporeBiotic aids digestion, improves regularity and provides immune modulation.

MegaSporeBiotic is the foundational piece of the Total Gut Restoration program from Microbiome Labs, also with MegaPre and MegaMucosa (or MegaIgG2000).

Cal-Mag Butyrate

Many gut bacteria naturally produce short chain fatty acids like butyrate. Butyrate encourages the formation of friendly bacteria in the gut, lowers the expression of inflammatory immune markers, detoxifies ammonia, and supports the health of the gut lining.

But, if you have a poor gut ecology/dysbiosis, not enough gut species producing short chain fatty acids like butyrate), or gut inflammation, a butyrate supplement like Cal-Mag Butyrate may be beneficial. Butyrate has been clinically studied in inflammatory intestinal conditions like IBS, IBD and Crohn’s. You can find Cal-Mag Butyrate in my online store.

(Butyrate got its name because it’s found in butter!)

Histamine Digest (formerly Umbrellux DAO) – Histamine Symptom Relief

Though in the long-term you certainly need to address what’s underlying your gut issues, in the short-term people may also need relief.

Histamine Digest can provide relief for people with histamine intolerance. When sensitive individuals eat histamine-rich foods (or alcohol or drugs that release histamines or block the DAO enzyme) they may suffer from symptoms like diarrhea, stomach pain, hives, nasal congestion, red eyes, or flushing.

Taken about 15 minutes before a meal, Histamine Digest supplies an enzyme that clears histamine in the digestive tract. While our bodies naturally make DAO, some people may have a higher requirement or do not produce enough DAO on their own.

Check out my online store for more supplements for digestive health.

Did you know that chia seeds can be very soothing for the intestines?

Watch my intern Josh Edelstein, a culinary nutrition student at Johnson and Wales University, whip up a Chia Seed Pudding in a jar. It makes a great easy to make snack that your body will thank you for.

Chia seeds are demulcents, and help to build and repair the mucosal layer in your gut. We need this gel-like layer in the gut for immune defense — to support a diverse community of intestinal microbes, to prevent leaky gut, to quell inflammation, and for normal digestion/elimination.

These tiny black seeds are also packed with nutrition. Chia seeds provide fiber, protein, Omega-3 fats, minerals (e.g. magnesium, manganese, calcium and phosphorus) and vitamins (e.g. B vitamins).

Watch this 1 minute video and you’ll see just how easy it is to be good to your gut!

P.S. Add a probiotic boost to this recipe — add the contents of a MegaSporeBiotic capsule before you shake it all up!

Basic ingredients:

1 C plant milk

4 Tbsp Chia Seeds

1/2 Tbsp Maple Syrup

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Berries or other fruit

(options include ground cinnamon, cocoa powder, ginger)

Looking for a festive, yet healthy (and easy!) recipe for a St. Patrick’s day dessert? My nutrition intern Josh shows you how to make a Matcha Loaf Bread. He added MegaSporeBiotic for the #CookMoreSpores challenge, showcasing how you can utilize this great probiotic addition to any recipe —cold or hot (up to 450ºF).

• Support healthy immune balance and function
• Maintain strong adhesion and colonization in the gut
• Support a healthier gut lining
• Support increased microbial diversity
• Maintain a healthy balance of desirable and undesirable microbes
• Support optimal digestion and absorption
• Provide support for proper bowel function, gut motility, and transit time

Enjoy this 1 minute video and delicious dessert!

NOTE:
You can add 1-2 capsules of MegaSporeBiotic to any warm meals, breads, and in other baked desserts.

The spores are heat stable up to 450 degrees F.

MegaSporeBiotic probiotics have a resilient outer coat that is resistant to not only heat, but also to acids, and radiation.

Looking for creative ways to incorporate healthy probiotics into your and your family’s diet without taking capsules?

Here is a recipe video created by my intern Josh for Berry Layered Overnight Oats, a microbiome-friendly recipe. In this recipe, which part of  the #CookMoreSpores challenge, he added two capsules of MegaSporeBiotic.

You can add MegaSporeBiotic  probiotic to any cold recipe. (And by the way, the spores are also heat stable up to 450 degrees F so you want to use them in cooked recipes!)

The spores in MegaSporeBiotic have a resilient outer coat of armor that is resistant to extreme heat, acidity, radiation, and chemicals. The spore form ensures that spore-based probiotics effectively colonize the gut to maintain total-body health in countless ways. MegaSporeBiotic can help your body:

• Support healthy immune balance and function
• Maintain strong adhesion and colonization in the gut
• Support a healthier gut lining
• Support increased microbial diversity
• Maintain a healthy balance of desirable and undesirable microbes
• Support optimal digestion and absorption
• Provide support for proper bowel function, gut motility, and transit time

This 1 minute cooking video will show you just how easy it is to make a delicious overnight oats recipe that supports a healthy and diverse gut microbiome! Great gut health and great breakfast…great way to start your day!

Basic Ingredients:

1/2 c Old Fashioned Oats

1/2 c Almond or other plant milk

1/4 c Vanilla Yogurt (milk or plant based)

1 Tbsp Chia Seeds

Fruit – 1/2 c sliced bananas, plus other fruit to layer like blueberries, raspberries, peaches

Your oral health is more important than you might realize. Learn how the health of your mouth, teeth and gums can affect your general health. Did you know that your oral health offers clues about your overall health — or that problems in your mouth can affect the rest of your body? Protect yourself by learning more about the connection between your oral health and overall health.

What’s the connection between oral health and overall health?

Like other areas of the body, your mouth teems with bacteria — mostly harmless. But your mouth is the entry point to your digestive and respiratory tracts, and some of these bacteria can cause disease.

Normally the body’s natural defenses and good oral health care, such as daily brushing and flossing, keep bacteria under control. However, without proper oral hygiene, bacteria can reach levels that might lead to oral infections, such as tooth decay and gum disease.

Also, certain medications — such as decongestants, antihistamines, painkillers, diuretics and antidepressants — can reduce saliva flow. Part of saliva’s job is to wash away food and neutralize acids produced by bacteria in the mouth, helping to protect you from microbes that multiply and may lead to disease.

Studies suggest that oral bacteria and the inflammation associated with a severe form of gum disease (periodontitis) might play a role in some diseases. Compounding that, certain diseases, such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS, can lower the body’s resistance to infection, making oral health problems more severe.

Read the full article.

It’s a two-way street — your oral health might contribute to various diseases and conditions, and certain conditions also might affect your oral health.

Oral Bacteria and PPI’s

Dysbiosis of the mouth is thought to be the root cause of many diseases. The oral microbiome is connected to, and affects the rest of the gut microbiome.

Stomach acid has an important job of naturally killing many pathogens entering from the mouth. But when people are on PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) or other acid suppressing medications (like H2  blockers), acid levels are reduced and the body loses that natural protection. Consequently, many “bad bacteria” that originated in the mouth are not killed off and can get translocated to the small intestine where they do not belong! If these bacteria take hold and flourish, this can lead to gut dysbiois, gut inflammation and digestive symptoms.

Nutrition and a Healthy Mouth — Diet and Supplements

Among other things, a healthy mouth is one that is free from inflammation, has pink, firm gums, no bleeding and very little plaque. (And of course, no untreated caries!)

Oral health begins with good oral hygiene and a healthy diet. It’s foundational to eat a healthy diet such as the Mediterranean diet — a whole foods diet (e.g. lots of vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, whole grains, healthy fats, lean proteins, little red meat, fatty fish, no processed foods or added sugars).

In addition, to a healthy, nutrient dense, whole foods diet, the following nutrition supplements are being used in functional medicine-based dentistry:

• Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Vitamin C – gum, tooth and bone health
• CoQ10 – gum health
• Probiotics – oral microbiome

A recent study published in The International Journal of Pharmaceutics: X shows that taking MegaPre together with MegaSporeBiotic both increases microbial diversity in the gut and increases total SCFA (short chain fatty acid) production by 80-140%.

When testing MegaSporeBiotic alone (without MegaPre), there was a still significant (though less impressive) 24-70% increase in total SCFAs among donors. For this reason, it is highly recommended to take MegaPre in conjunction with MegaSporeBiotic.

SCFA’s such as butyrate, are important anti-inflammatory metabolites that maintain intestinal homeostasis, maintain a healthy gut lining, and support a healthy immune system.

Microbiome Labs (manufacturer of MegaSporeBiotic and MegaPre) has completed 14 clinical trials. Recently they purchased a microbiome research lab at California State University in Sacramento.

Microbiome Labs utilizes the SHIME®️  model in many of their studies, a unique scientifically validated, dynamic model of the complete gastrointestinal tract from the stomach to the colon, to study chemical, enzymatic, and microbial variables of the digestive tract in a controlled in vitro setting.

The SHIME model includes 5 reactors that simulate the stomach, small intestine, and the 3 regions of the large intestine: the ascending, transverse, and descending colon. Careful control of the environmental variables in each reactor allows studying the effects of a compound or finished product in each segment of the digestive tract as well as the gut microbiome over several weeks.

SHIME stands for the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem.

Did you know that many scientists are finding that an imbalance of the gut microbiome is an underlying root cause for the onset of diabetes?

Here’s a simplified explanation the relationship between the gut microbiome and the onset of diabetes:

Chronic inflammation in the gut from microbial dysbiosis and lack of microbial diversity can lead to damage of the gut mucosal barrier. Eventually this inflammation leads to gaps in the intestinal lining, known as leaky gut.

Through these gaps, toxins, pathogens and dietary antigens can get through and trigger an inflammatory immune response.

Over time, this immune response may eventually develop into insulin resistance and hyperglycemia and the eventual development of Type 2 diabetes.

Leaky gut also leaves those genetically predisposed to Type 1 diabetes with a poorly educated immune system, more vulnerable to viral triggers of the disease as well as damage to pancreatic beta cells.

One of the most important jobs of the gut microbiome is to tend the gut lining. If the gut microbiome is out of balance, it poorly performs that job. We rely on our gut microbes to help us reduce intestinal inflammation and maintain the mucus barrier and tight junctions of the gut lining. The gut lining is a critical way that the body protects itself from the outside world.

I work with clients to rebalance their gut microbiota, through diet and lifestyle changes and supplements. My nutrition strategies are designed to increase microbial diversity as well as specifically increase populations of microbial species that are known to tend the gut lining.

My nutrition gut strategies are designed to support species of microbes that produce anti-inflammatory metabolites like butyrate and keep the gut mucus layer strong and the cell junctions tight.

Here’s an illustration from Microbiome Labs comparing a healthy gut lining with a leaky gut lining.
It shows that gut dysbiosis, with decreased microbial diversity and a deficiency of butyrate producing and mucin supporting bacteria, can lead to leaky gut.

Recondition – Reinforce – Rebuild
Protocol From Researchers of MegaSporeBiotic

Total Gut Restoration program from Microbiome Labs is a research-based tool for restoring gut health. They have a suite of supplements that work to support a healthy gut, including microbial ecology, gut barrier and regulatory immune function. (A healthy gut is the necessary foundation for a healthy immune system.)

Supporting Supplements for Total Gut Restoration

The researchers at Microbiome Labs have found that the gut and its microbial ecology can be restored with the following protocol:

1. Recondition with MegaSporeBiotic – clinically researched spore-based probiotic that increases microbial diversity and encourages the growth of key health-promoting commensal gut bacteria. The first 100% spore-based probiotic has been clinically shown to improve leaky guy by 60% in just 30 days. It even maintains efficacy during antibiotic therapy.

2. Reinforce with MegaPreBiotic – clinically tested pre-biotic that selectively feeds particular beneficial bacteria. This is a precision prebiotic. Made of non-digestible oligosaccharides (type of carbohydrate) that reinforce the beneficial changes created by MegaSporeBiotic to promote a strong and diverse microbiome. Available in powder or capsule form.

3. Rebuild with MegaMucosa powder – key amino acids that help rebuild a healthy mucosal barrier as well as immunoglobulins and flavonoids to support healthy mucosal immunity and alleviate barrier dysfunction. (Another option is MegaIgG2000, a capsule form containing a potent dose of the immunoglobulins.)

The chart above gives more detail the Total Gut Restoration program, the products and how to dose.

Or click here for a PDF of the Microbiome Labs Gut Restoration Chart.

Total Gut Restoration — Don’t Forget About Diet

Of course, a key part of promoting a healthy gut is eating a healthy diet to provide necessary nutrients for both you AND your gut bacteria!

A healthy diet should contain lots of fruits and vegetables (including leafy and root vegetables), whole grains, nuts and seeds, healthy fats, wild fish, antibiotic-free meat and chicken, pastured eggs, grass-fed milk and dairy products, and few processed foods. Look for clean, organic and non-GMO as much as possible.

How does this diet affect your gut bacteria?
Simply put:

• High fiber foods “feed” beneficial gut bacteria.
• Sugars and other simple carbohydrate foods “feed” not-so-beneficial gut bacteria.

Support beneficial microbes with a high fiber diet, so they multiply more!

Deprive not-so-beneficial gut bacteria of sugary foods and simple carbohydrates they “crave,” so they multiply less.

Listen to Kiran Krishan explain the Total Gut Restoration Program!

Why do some friends or family members seem to eat virtually anything and not gain weight?

Why do others eat more healthfully and struggle with unwanted weight gain?

This paper from Microbiome Labs, reveals recent scientific discoveries to shed some new light on this matter! 

First of all….the Myth. 

We typically credit being lean to an individual just being lucky to be born with a high metabolism. Or with someone who is very conscious about the calories they eat.

But there’s more to it.

According to the latest research, “as it turns out, our gut bacteria and the type of species we have in our digestive tract, play a critical role in determine if we are going to be lean or obese.”

“The latest research has shown that the type of bacteria you have in your gut controls the amount of calories you extract from the food you eat, the types of food you crave and also what food is converted to in the digestive process.

Foods consumed, especially carbohydrates, can be converted to compounds that lead to insulin resistance, fat storage, gas production and metabolites that cause inflammation.”

Let’s Look at the Good News

This presents the opportunity to support the right bacteria in your gut for a better health — to support insulin sensitivity, increase fat burn, prevent fat storage, reduce inflammation, reduce gas production and improve satiety.

In essence, we can reprogram our metabolism by supporting the ratio of different strains of bacteria in the gut.

But How Can You Reprogam Your Metabolism?

Number One. This means both consuming foods that are high in fiber AND eating few simple carbohydrates and sugars. But you have to do both — eat more fiber and only minimal amounts of simple carbohydrates and sugars to be effective. Why? This combination supports your gut bacteria to produce “fat busting compounds” known as short chain fatty acids (SCFA’s). Just eating a high fiber diet alone doesn’t achieve this. Neither does just keeping your simple carbohydrates low, such as on a Paleo diet.

Number Two. The second important microbial technique is to get the right probiotics in your system, with meals. For example, MegasporeBiotic probiotics is formulated with a unique combination of probiotic bacteria that have been shown to convert fibers in the diet to the much desired SCFA’s which affect the metabolic process.

There are additional variables too like giving the gut a 12 hour + fasting window (e.g. no food between 7 pm and 7 am) and considering how genetics play into it.

For more tips and detailed science, read the full Metabolic Reprogramming paper by Microbiome Labs.

You can also check out the MegaSporebiotic product as well as the Total Gut Restoration protocol (which includes MegaMucosa (or MegaIgG2000) and MegaPreBiotic.)