Category Archives: Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers

Should You Eat A Low-Sulfur Diet If You Have SIBO?

Sulfur is a very important mineral. It’s a vital compound when it comes to bones and skin and hair. Many parts of your body require sulfur for them to be in good shape.

Sulfur is found in many protein foods. Cysteine and methionine are two amino acids that are high in sulfur. The dietary supplement, Alpha-Lipoic Acid, also contains sulfur. Many amino acids contain cysteine or methionine, and glutathione is another sulfur-containing compound. The brassicas like cauliflower, broccoli, and collards contain sulfur. So, do onions, brazil nuts, and almonds.

For the majority of people, sulfur’s not going to affect them much. However, people with severe SIBO can have problems with sulfur. The sulfur can be converted to hydrogen sulfide in the gut, leading to extreme malodorous gas. This occurs as a result of the overgrowth of bacteria seen in SIBO.

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My father has SIBO and SIFO for years. He was seen by gastroenterologists, but they can’t help much when someone is eating a couple of dozen cookies followed by a gallon of chocolate milk after supper. Some people are like that. They don’t understand why they have a problem, and yet, the problem’s right in front of their face.

If you have very offensive gastrointestinal gas, you need to do something about it. Look at your diet and eliminate the foods that contain the most sulfur, particularly the protein foods. Avoiding those foods can reduce the odor.

Probiotics can certainly help. I also recommend having a comprehensive stool analysis and possibly a breath test. You want to identify the target species and clean them up. Get your diet sorted, eat a low sulfur diet, and you’ll be in a lot better place.

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Questions & Answers

The Connection Between The Gut, Heart Disease, And Stroke

Stroke and heart disease continue to be serious public health problems.

New research conducted by Dr. Brunch at the University of Colorado has something exciting to say about those conditions. This study demonstrated that when you change of microbiome of older mice, you reduce the production of a toxic compound (TMAO) in their gut. TMAO is associated with higher rates of heart disease and stroke.

Trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) is a very toxic compound. By the time you’re sixty years old, you’ve got a 70% chance of having TMAO in your body. By the time you’re in your 80s, only about 10-15% of people are free of this toxin. The change in TMAO levels comes along as the gut ages, and the composition of the GI flora starts to shift. In particular, there is a loss of beneficial bacteria. As TMAO levels increase, so does your risk of stroke and heart disease.

The lead investigator in this study worked with a group of young mice and a group of older mice. She wiped out their gut flora using a broad-spectrum antibiotic. As a result of wiping out their GI bacteria, the older mice no longer produced the same amount of toxic compounds in their gut. Their circulatory and cardiac healthy improved so much, it was almost equivalent to that seen in young mice.

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The researchers went on to document that the gut bacteria of the older mice had changed after it was wiped out by the antibiotics. Now, I’m not suggesting for one minute that antibiotics are the fountain of youth. In fact, in my opinion, antibiotics do more damage than good.

But the take-home point from this study is that altering your gut bacteria can alter your health. Even heart health is connected to the gut.

If you want to combat the changes that occur to the gut flora with age, include things n your diet that can improve your gut health. Foods like kefir, yogurt, and kombucha can all be helpful.

So there you have it. To keep your gut in great shape as you get older, consider cultured and fermented foods, keep active, and you may well have a chance of staving off some of the biggest killers of older people – circulatory problems, heart disease, and stroke.

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Questions & Answers

A Gut-Healthy Approach to Shopping

I’ve come up with ten tips that will help make sure you’re grocery shopping is gut-healthy.

1. Shop the perimeter: If you must use a supermarket for your groceries, try to limit your purchase to items found at the edges of the store. Traditionally, that is where you will find fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh meat and fish, eggs, dairy, and the bakery for bread and the like.

2. Try and shop at farmer’s markets: Farmer’s markets offer more personalized service. Over time you can get to know the vendors and understand how they grow their products and whether they use pesticides. Organic farmer’s markets are one of the best options when it comes to grocery shopping.

3. Make your own yogurt and grow your own sprouts: It’s easy to group sprouts. Sprouts are very high in chlorophyll, folic acid, and vitamin C.

4. Eat smaller meals: Most people eat too much food. For a healthy gut, you don’t want to overeat. Don’t treat your stomach like it’s a cement mixer. When it comes to buying groceries, don’t over shop. Buy enough so that you can eat moderately rather than eating large portions all the time.

5. Buy your fresh foods frequently: Instead of loading up on fruits, vegetables, meat, and eggs for weeks at a time, buy them every few days. The nutrient content of food diminishes over time, so you want to fill your fridge with fresh foods, not store broccoli that was picked a month ago.

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6. Avoid the most heavily sprayed foods in your region. Google should able to help you identify the foods with the highest levels of pesticide residue. You might be surprised to discover that celery is very heavily sprayed. Imported berries are often far more heavily sprayed than domestic ones.

7. Buy lean cuts of meat. When you get poultry, get it skinless. You can coat the meat with a rub instead or marinate it before cooking. I make a nice mix with olive oil, fresh herbs, garlic, smoked paprika, and some curry powder.

8. Always check the best before or expiry dates on your groceries. You want to buy the freshest item available. Sometimes that means using your arm to reach the back of the shelf, but it’s worth it.

9. Don’t go shopping without a list. Impulse shopping is a quick way to come home with the junk foods you don’t need in the house.

10. Eat before you shop: If you go shopping on an empty stomach, the chocolate bar and bags of chips are going to be particularly hard to resist. Have a good breakfast before you go shopping in the morning. Having some protein before you go to the grocery store is always a good idea because it helps maintain a stable blood sugar level.

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Questions & Answers

Using Periodic Detoxification To Optimize Gut Health

Periodically detoxifying and resting the GI tract are essential steps to take if you want to build up your gut’s health. I often get comments regarding my formula, CanXida Restore. People complain that their gut can’t tolerate the product, or that they are getting a Herxheimer reaction.

So, let talk a little bit about what happens if you’re gut is in a state of disarray. For example, how will your gut react to probiotics if you have low levels of beneficial bacteria and little enzyme production. You’ve started to change your diet and want to give the gut a rest. Maybe there is some toxin build-up in the gut.

You starting taking a probiotics like CanXida Restore and suddenly you’re getting side effects. In that situation, it pays to back off on the probiotics. There is likely a considerable amount of endotoxin build up in the gut. The gut may be permeable and secretory IgA levels are often low. When you add a probiotic to the mix, there is increased production of acetic and lactic acid. Lymphocytes are stimulated, antibody production is ramped up, and cytokine levels increase. Cytokines can, in turn, cause uncomfortable signs and symptoms.

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The solution is to back off. It’s also important to, every now and then, have a bit of a rest day for food. For example, every second or third Sunday you could cut back on eating and just have a bit of soup or a light meal. Eating like that gives your body a bit of a resting or cleansing.

This is often a good time to drink more water, rest, an go for a walk rather than exercising intensely. You’ll find that your gut will be in a lot better shape than if you keep pummeling it with food and supplements, without any downtime. Make your changes very slowly and carefully. Plateau or back off if side effects become a problem.

Remember, that when you take a good probiotic like CanXida Restore, particularly if it also contains enzymes, you may get side effects. The side effects should only last a few days, particularly if you back off for a bit. If you have a poorly functioning GI tract, sometimes you have to tolerate a little bit of discomfort to break through to a higher level of gut health.

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Questions & Answers

Should You Cheat On The Keto Diet?

Is it a good idea to have a cheat day when you’re on the keto diet?

The ketogenic diet is extremely popular now. It’s also being used to treat medical conditions like type II diabetes. The ketogenic diet is used for weight loss. People on the diet consume relatively large amounts of fat, smaller amounts of protein and then only 10 to 15% carbs.

I read an interesting study that was conducted by an associate professor at a University in British Columbia. In this study, nine young men went on a strict ketogenic diet for ten days after which time they were given a 75 gram dose of carbohydrates. 75 grams of carbs is equivalent to a soda drink or a small plate of fries.

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The goal was to see what would happen to the blood sugar regulation in these young men after days of eating minimal carbs. To their horror, what they discovered was a massive spike in inflammatory markers. As a result of these findings, the professor stated that he has grave concerns for people who have cheats days while on the ketogenic diet.

Many people have will do this. They’ll have six or seven days where they strictly follow the ketogenic diet and they’ll they have one day of eating whatever they want. Invariably the cheat day means eating a ton of carbs. Unfortunately, you can’t do have cheat days on while on the ketogenic diet without damaging the blood vessels.

The study revealed that these inflammatory markers can cause quite serious damage to small blood vessels. This is my concern. If you have people on a strict type of diet for long, they’re going to break out and go crazy after a while. They’re going to binge on junk.

After years of helping people with their weight and nutrition, I’ve found that in most cases dieting doesn’t work. People certainly lose weight but then they put it all back – and sometimes very quickly.

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