Category Archives: Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers

Fecal Fat: What Does It Tell Us?

A doctor does the fecal fat stain test as part of a stool analysis. This test determines if your body is digesting fat properly. Typically, you need to eat about 100 grams of fat per day for two or three days before the test. A stool sample is taken and then analyzed to determine the fat content.

The fecal fat test is an especially relevant test for people who’ve had their gall bladder removed, are suffering from irritable bowel syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease, or have any chronic digestive problem. The fecal fat test will also tell your doctor if you have pancreatitis.

It’s essential to understand if your body’s digesting fats properly. If your digestive tract is not processing the fats in your diet properly, you can experience a lot of problems. Remember that fat-soluble vitamins get broken down and absorbed in your intestine. If too much fat is passing in the stool rather than being digested or absorbed, the result can be vitamin deficiencies, fatigue, and a whole raft of other problems.

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The fecal fat test is usually done as part of a comprehensive stool analysis. It can also be done by your GI doctor as a small stand-alone test, particularly if the gall bladder has been removed.

I recommend looking in the toilet bowl after your bowel movements. An oily slick in the toilet bowl can alert you to possible fat malabsorption. Sometimes taking a digestive enzyme for a few weeks or a few months can solve the problem. Other times, you will need to be on the enzymes for longer. Changing your diet is sometimes part of managing problems with digesting fat.

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Questions & Answers, Yeast Infection Signs And Symptoms

Blastocystis Hominis: Do I Need To Treat It?

I had a client ask me if they could get rid of Blastocystis hominis (Blasto) through diet rather than antibiotics. The truth is that many people no longer consider Blasto to be a problem. Some experts believe that Blasto may be part of the normal gut flora. Blastocystis hominis is a single-cell parasite. It generally shouldn’t be in the human gut. But it’s like anything, you can get away with a few “bad” microorganisms in your intestine, provided you have enough good ones to keep them in check. Chances are you won’t be able to get rid of Blasto in the digestive tract, but if you’re healthy, it’s not much of an issue. The more I study and work in the clinic, the clearer it becomes that the biggest problem is often not the “bad guys.” The biggest problem is the lack of beneficial bacteria like lactobacillus and bifidobacteria.

I used to recommend some types of antibiotics up until a few years ago, but not anymore. I’ve seen far too many adverse reactions. I’ve seen too many clients not get the results they were after. In my opinion, antibiotics are not desirable for parasites in any shape or form.

There are different ways to reduce or eliminate Blasto, but it won’t happen over a couple of weeks. It could take three months, six months or even twelve months. Your health will start to improve from the get-go, but it may take months to get the Blasto levels low enough to eliminate any related symptoms.

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One of the most important steps in Blasto treatment is creating a relaxed life that is as stress-free as possible. Getting your digestive health back on track also means eating a healthy diet while avoiding alcohol, caffeine, and sugar. Many medical doctors will be quick to argue and say that natural approaches don’t work for parasites, but that’s not true.

Don’t forget supplements. By encouraging the growth of beneficial bacteria, probiotics can help manage any Blastocystis hominis in your gut. Many people pay lip service to probiotics, but they don’t take enough, and they don’t take them long enough. Often, clients aren’t even taking the right kind of probiotic strains. Consider adding probiotics to your gut treatment plan, but make sure you’re using the right ones, at the right dose, and for the right amount of time. CanXida Restore is a probiotic product that fits well with treating Blasto.

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Questions & Answers

Constipation: Can Tea Help?

Before using a team or anything to treat constipation, you need to find out why your bowels aren’t working well. Even before I talk to my clients about how to manage their constipation, we talk about why they aren’t moving their bowels regularly. There’s a reason for that, and it needs fixing. Once you know the cause, you can work on reversing it.

Certain teas can help manage constipation while you’re addressing the underlying cause. One of the drinks I regularly recommend for constipation is prune tea. To make prune tea, you take three or four soft prunes, preferably organic, and pop them into eight ounces of boiling water. Let the prunes stand for four to five minutes, stirring the water every so often. Drink the tea once it has cooled down.

Most people can tolerate prune tea. If you’ve got a Candida yeast or bacterial problem, the natural sugar content of prune tea may cause you some problems. If you drink one prune tea daily, your constipation will likely get noticeably better.

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Another excellent tea for gut health is peppermint tea. Peppermint tea is good for SIBO, parasite problems, or a yeast infection in the gut. Peppermint tea helps digestion because it relaxes the intestines. Many people get constipation due to tension and stress, even if they have a very good diet. Peppermint tea is especially helpful if you’ve got any gas, bloating, or abdominal discomfort. Other teas that can help with constipation include slippery elm and aloe vera.

Your local health food store is a good source of teas for improving bowel function. One drink I particularly like for constipation is called Alpine tea. I don’t tend to recommend herbs like cascara or Senna for constipation. Many people experienced cramping pain and nausea when those herbs to manage their bowels. I would use Senna or cascara as a last resort. I’m much more likely to recommend prune or peppermint tea to my clients.

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Questions & Answers

One-Sided Back Pain And Constipation: What’s The Connection?

Constipation can cause abdominal pain anywhere in the front of the abdomen. You can also get discomfort on the sides with sluggish bowels. Back pain, including one-side back pain, can stem from constipation. However, one-sided back pain can also be coming from the kidney. If you’ve got pain in one flank, just to the side of the spine, it could be kidney pain. Kidney pain is often described as a low, dull, aching sensation. The chances that it is kidney related increase if you notice blood in your urine or have painful urination.

Problems with the kidneys and constipation can occur at the same time. The kidneys are elimination organs. If the bowels are not working properly, the kidneys are also going to suffer.

If you have one-side back pain, my recommendation is to go straight to the doctor and get it checked out. It’s important to have a blood test and to be checked out. It’s always better to catch a problem early. You want to see if you have a kidney infection, kidney stones, or perhaps severe constipation that requires medical intervention. The doctor may need to do an ultrasound to examine your kidneys or an abdominal Xray to assess the extent of your constipation.

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Whenever you have pain, it’s a warning that something is not right. Like your car, you’ve got lights flashing on your dash, and you should act on it straight away; otherwise, you could be up for a big repair bill.

The bottom line? One-sided back pain may be due to constipation, but it could be related to your kidney. Also, remember that any pain that goes on for more than a day is a reason to seek medical attention.

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Questions & Answers

Supplements For Gut Inflammation: Which Ones Are The Best?

If you’re dealing with inflammation of the digestive tract, several supplements can be helpful. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential fatty acids that are excellent for inflammation. There is a large amount of research documenting the ability of omega-3 fatty acids to downgrade inflammation. These fatty acids help to quench many aspects of inappropriate immune responses leading to gut inflammation.

If you want to get your omega-3 fatty acids from your diet, you can eat oily fish such as salmon or mackerel. Walnuts and linseed are other dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Some people find it easier to take a couple of capsules of a high-quality Omega 3 every day.

The next supplement I recommend for gut inflammation is an antimicrobial. Many people with gut inflammation have got bacteria or yeast driving that inflammation. It’s essential to get rid of the harmful microorganisms that are triggering the inflammatory response. CanXida Remove can be helpful in that situation. CanXida Remove is a product I made in 2013. We’ve had outstanding feedback from people who have used CanXida Remove. CanXida Remove has helped people with Inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut, Candida overgrowth, and other problems with the gut. You can think of CanXida Remove as taking all the bad guys out of the room, with the “room” being your digestive tract. Fortunately, CanXida Remove doesn’t kill the beneficial bacteria.

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In my experience, CanXida works particularly well with CanXida Restore. CanXida Restore contains multiple probiotics and digestive enzymes which facilitate the breakdown of food. When you use CanXida Restore, the absorption of nutrients improves, and the probiotics encourage the growth of healthy intestinal bacteria.

I’ve had outstanding results from using the combination of CanXida Remove and CanXida Restore. I’ve seen these products reverse conditions like leaky gut and gut inflammation. As for prebiotics, I tell my clients to get them from food rather than using prebiotic supplements. I’ve done videos on the best prebiotic foods to eat. Please don’t buy probiotics with prebiotics in them, especially if you’ve got an inflamed gut. I’ve had many clients experience a flare of gut symptoms when taking supplements that contain both probiotics and prebiotics.

When it comes to taking multiple supplements, I wouldn’t recommend you take a whole ton of stuff. Three or four different supplements is often enough. I get very concerned when I have people come to me who are taking 20-30 or even more supplements per day.

Other steps you can take to treat gut inflammation are eating well, sleeping enough, and minimizing your daily stress. Do those things in combination with fish oil, antimicrobials, probiotics, and digestive enzymes, and you’ll notice a dramatic improvement in your gut inflammation.

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