Category Archives: Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers

Meat Versus Fibre: Which One Is The Best For Gut Health?

I once had an ex-vegan tell me that meat has more to offer gut health than fiber. Is that true?

In my opinion, the best case scenario for gut health is a balance between meat and dietary fiber. If you’re only eating meat, I’d want to know more about your digestive and bowel function before passing judgment on your diet.

Moving from being a vegan to eating meat again will result in a shift in gut flora. For example, levels of Bacteroides are higher in meat-eaters. Prevotella tends to be higher in vegans. My recommendation is to never make a cold turkey switch from one diet to another. “Warm turkey” is the way to go instead.

Fiber is exceedingly important when it comes to our health. People who consume substantial amounts of fiber have more stable metabolic rates, better energy, improved sleep, and better libido. They also are protected from accelerated aging by their healthy gut flora. There are other good reasons for having fiber in your diet. It helps with appetite regulation for one.

In my experience, very healthy people with well functioning digestive systems and balanced microbiotas eat a lot of resistant starch. Resistant starch is found in oats, brown rice, legumes, other grains, and root vegetables like potato and sweet potato.

Further readings:

If you’re not currently doing so already, I recommend incorporating sweet potato into your diet once or twice a week. Just a small piece is a good starting point. Watch what happens to your gut over time as you have a bit of sweet potato twice a week. My guess is that it will calm down. If you start with a high dose of fiber, you can cause constipation, diarrhea, gas, or bloating. Never make a quick change when it comes to the fiber content of your diet.

I can assure you that fiber plays a fundamental role in health. You can’t live a healthy life by consuming meat all the time. Meat and red meat, in particular, has been linked to many cancers. I saw one recommendation out of England that said to limit your intake of red meat to 10 ounces per week. That recommendation was based on top scientific studies out of Europe and the U.S.

Be careful when it comes to meat intake. Don’t overeat red meat. Look at other forms of protein. Fresh fish is a superior protein. Free-range eggs are another excellent option. Balance your protein intake with reasonably good amounts of fiber, but don’t load your plate up with too much meat.

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Questions & Answers

Gut Healthy Travel Tips

Let’s look at some steps you can take while traveling, which will help prevent GI distress.

1. Plan ahead: Where are you going on your trip? Are you going to go to Zimbabwe? Are you going to go to Antarctica? Are you going to go to New York City? Depending on where you go, the steps you need to take to avoid getting ill may be different—for example, the colder your destination, the lower the risk of certain parasites. Going to Los Angeles is going to be a different scenario than going to parts of Asia or Africa. Of course, no matter what part of the globe you travel to, you could bump into someone from an area of the world experiencing an outbreak. It pays to be vigilant no matter where you go.

2. Be cautious in busy airports and public transportation. You don’t need to be over the top about hygiene, but you do need to on high alert. It’s no different than being on the lookout for pickpockets when traveling. You need to keep your wits about you. For example, the first thing I do when I get off the airplane is head straight to the bathroom and clean my hands thoroughly. You touch so many surfaces when traveling by plane, and these surfaces have been touched by thousands of other people. If you don’t clean your hands thoroughly and have something to eat or touch your eye, it’s easy to transfer bacteria or parasites. The same is true for airport showers. If I have been on a long haul flight and am really tired, I will have a shower, but I use my own tea tree soap that I’ve brought along. Hand washing is probably one of the most important things to do when you travel. That includes after handling money and your passport as well.

3. Get a letter from a healthcare provider explaining that your supplements are necessary: I’ve heard of many occasions where people have had their supplements confiscated and thrown out by airport security. Having a letter like that can go a long way towards saving your bottles of supplements. Also, plan carefully, so you only take the pills that you need immediately in your carry-on case.

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4. Focus on bringing the items that you need based on your destination: For example, when I go to Australia, I bring essential oils that will help repel the flies. If you’re going to Antarctica or a skiing destination, you’ll need to be prepared to combat sunburn. If loose bowels are a risk, taking probiotics with you may be a good idea. Saccharomyces boulardii is very good for traveler’s diarrhea.

5. Be careful with drinking water: Many people get sick from drinking water when they travel to countries that don’t have reliable water safety systems. In some places, unscrupulous people will sell you contaminated water, claiming that it is fresh and clean.

6. Be careful where you eat: I have eaten in some pretty nice restaurants and still ended up sick. Alternatively, I ate street food on one of my first trips to India, and I didn’t have a problem with it. In my opinion, if you’re traveling, the water and food are the two most likely sources of infection.

7. Take useful natural medications with you: Activated charcoal is good to have on hand because it can soak up toxins. Probiotics and B vitamins can also be helpful. I know some people find magnesium supplements useful when traveling by plane. Others use melatonin for jet lag. Lavender oil, tea tree oil, and peppermint oil are also a good addition to your travel pack.

8. Minimize alcohol intake and maximize your intake of fresh, high-quality water. If you’re putting alcohol into your gut, it’s hard for that GI tract to detoxify. If you eat contaminated food, it’s now an open invitation for serious gut problems.

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Questions & Answers

Lessons Learned from Years of Stool Testing

There’s lots to learn from stool testing.

In my opinion, it’s a big mistake not to get a comprehensive stool analysis if you have a gut problem.

In my opinion, trying to fix your gut without getting a stool test is like trying to fix your car without knowing the problem. You’ve got to take the car to someone who knows cars. The same is true for fixing your GI tract.

High-quality results from stool testing require using accredited labs with years of experience. I have had excellent working relationships with both Doctor’s Data out of Chicago and Genova Diagnostics out of North Carolina.

The best way to assess the microbes in your gut is to do a comprehensive stool analysis (CSA). A CSA also allows us to look at digestion and immune functions. Stool testing gives us measures of the levels and balance in the gut flora. We’re going to get information about pathogens, parasites, yeast, and beneficial bacteria.

Further readings:

The only way you’re going to detect parasites, and yeast and bacteria in your gut is through proper laboratory testing. Colonic cleansing, hydrotherapy, and electronic machines that claim to be the answer aren’t going to give the snapshot of your gut flora that you need as a starting point.

Stool testing is helpful at the beginning of treatment to get a baseline. You can re-test after a period of treatment to see if your gut is responding. It’s a process. My approach has always been to test first, put a treatment protocol in place, and then test again later – several times if necessary – to ensure treatment is generating the intended results.

I’m absolutely, 100% convinced that stool testing is the most effective, definitive way to move forward if you have a gut problem. Stool testing removes the guesswork from diagnosis and treatment planning. Don’t rely on self-diagnosis or Google to determine what’s going on in your gut.

Make sure that you work with a practitioner who has expertise and experience when it comes to stool testing. Naturopathic physicians have a high level of training, but you still have to avoid the bad apples.

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Questions & Answers

What To Expect When You Give Up Junk Food

Let’s talk about junk food withdrawal.

I read an interesting study out of the Avena lab at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. This team discovered that when people eat highly processed foods, particularly those with artificial coloring, they can get quite addicted. These findings refer to foods like donuts, fast food burgers and fries, and deep-fried chicken. You know, the types of foods that are full of sugar, processed fats, artificial colors, and an assortment of preservatives.

When people come off of these foods, there is a certain element of withdrawal symptoms. Not unlike a cannabis withdrawal or a caffeine withdrawal. So remember, when you eat foods that are very sweet, colored, and man-made (rather than naturally occurring), there’s a potential for addiction. In my opinion, the strength of this addiction gets higher as more of these foods are consumed.

This may explain why yourself or someone you know keep going back to that can of pop, that half-eaten donut, or that bag of candy. It can be hard to give up those fake foods. My advice, especially if you have children, is not to get them started on processed food. Instead, please encourage them to eat healthy food. I’ve never seen people have withdrawal or addiction coming off broccoli, brown rice, fish filets, or eggs.

Further readings:

I’ve never heard of an egg addiction, but I’ve heard of donut addictions.
Be careful. When you start eating or drinking junk food regularly, and you try and break the habit, you may have withdrawal symptoms. There could be anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, and other symptoms.

The key thing is not to go cold turkey. If you’re going to start a new healthy diet, I recommend warm turkey. My book Candida Crusher explains what warm turkey is all about. But in short, it’s about coming off of foods over a two to three week period rather than overnight.
My decades of work as a naturopath has shown me that when you eat natural foods rather than supermarket foods, you don’t end up with weight, fatigue, or sleeping problems.

Don’t fall into the junk food trap in the first place. You especially want to avoid brightly colored, highly processed foods that contain a collection of chemicals.

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Questions & Answers

Why Resistant Starch Is So Good For Your Gut

Why is it so important to include resistant starch in your diet?

When you eat food, digestion can begin as early in the mouth, driven by enzymes in the saliva. Next, the food is often partially digested in the stomach and finished off in the small intestine.

However, some foods contain resistant starches that aren’t fully digested into they reach the colon. These resistant starches get broken down, fermented, and act as food for beneficial bacteria.

These types are so vital for gut health that it upsets me to see all the anti-carb sentiments out there. I know from years of personal and professional experience, health, high-quality carbs do not make you fat. I’ve been eating bananas, oats, and potatoes all my life, and my gut health is great.

Resistant starches are a vital part of the diet that help regulate your appetite. They also help to bind cholesterol and pull it out of your body. If you eat a generous serving of rolled oats every day, there’s a good chance your cholesterol will come down.

Further readings:

Food is medicine. Medicine is food. Rolled oats are a fantastic food. Another great source of resistant starch is plantain. I don’t recommend eating green bananas or other under-ripe fruit. In my opinion, some of the best resistant starches are oats, potatoes, sweet potato, pasta, brown rice, and white rice.

When you let a potato cool, and then cook it, it doubles the fiber content. That’s a pretty neat trick. You can make patties out of rice and sweet potatoes, and they’re delicious. Eating resistant starch is very healthy for the gut because it’s what the beneficial bacteria want. As their levels go up, you’ll have higher energy and better cognitive functioning.

When I move people from high-protein diets to one that includes resistant starches, they sometimes have side effects because their bacteria aren’t yet up to speed. That’s why it’s important to start low and go slow. If you haven’t’ been eating resistant starch, begin with tiny portions. This is particularly good advice if you already have problems with gas and bloating.

You may even want to do a stool test to make sure your levels of the pancreatic enzyme PE1(elastase) are sufficient. If PE1 is very low, you may need to take some digestive enzyme supplements to avoid side effects like bloating and flatulence.

Sweet potatoes are a powerhouse of nutrition. They are high in vitamin A and potassium, as well as containing fiber and resistant starch. In my opinion, they are one of the best root vegetables you can include in your diet.

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