Category Archives: Questions & Answers

Questions & Answers

Drinking Milk: What You Should Know

There are very strong opinions when it comes to drinking cow’s milk. Still, I think it’s important to talk about the science related to milk and lactose.

For many people, the ability to properly digest the lactose in cow’s milk decreases after childhood. Most children can, at least to some degree, tolerate lactose due to having sufficient lactase supplies. As time goes on, the ability to produce an adequate amount of lactase drops off. We consider this an epigenetic phenomenon. Epigentics means the change in lactase production doesn’t reflect damage to a gene but another factor that influences gene expression.

I read a study out of Norway, done by a microbiologist, that stated approximately 80-90% of people in that country tolerate milk well. This scientist shared the experience of his friend who could tolerate milk all his life until suddenly, poof, he began to have problems. With a little investigation, it turned out his friend was taking antibiotics. The antibiotics had altered the expression of the gene responsible for producing lactase – hence, an epigenetic response.

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I don’t have a problem with small amounts of unpasteurized and unhomogenized milk in my diet. If I drink commercial dairy, I get stuffed up with mucus. For me, having a nice cup of espresso with a frothy bit of milk on top is one of life’s greatest pleasures.

For many people, milk is not a problem, particularly if it has been modified in a yogurt making process. However, be careful about drinking several glasses of milk a day. High milk consumption has been linked to an increase in inflammatory proteins in the body. I’ve had many clients over the years who were hooked on milkshakes and went on to have heart attacks and strokes.
My recommendation is to be careful about milk unless it is fresh, unhomogenized, and unpasteurized. But in small amounts, I consider it perfectly fine.

Also, your lactose tolerance can change if your gut health changes. If your gut is leaky or if you have a genetic lactase intolerance, then keeping milk out of your diet makes sense. The same is true for those with eczema, asthma, or known allergies.

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Questions & Answers

The Impact Of Physical Activity On The Gut Flora

Many people don’t like to exercise, but it has incredibly beneficial effects on the body.
Exercise improves sleep, mood, and physical fitness.

Scientists have now found that people with excellent cardiorespiratory fitness have healthier gut floras. In these individuals, their lungs and circulatory systems work well together to supply ample oxygen to the body, and they have a much more diverse gut flora. The explanation for this association is still unclear. What is clear is that people with good air exchange and an excellent resting pulse have more species of bacteria in their GI tract. The opposite is true of people who are sedentary.

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If you look at indigenous populations, a group that wouldn’t know much about being sedentary, their gut flora is particularly diverse. I believe their activity level helps explain their low rates of cancer and diabetes.

I believe a healthy, diverse gut flora comes out of an active lifestyle, where you have to work hard for your food. Good mental health is linked with diverse flora, which may explain why physically fit people often have better mental health than average. Conversely, it could also help explain why so many people who are sedentary have high levels of depression and anxiety.

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Questions & Answers

Green Tea Extract: Is It Good For The Gut And Good For Your Weight?

Let’s talk about weight loss and green tea extract.

Right now, the research is a mixed bag. Some studies say that green tea works well to drive down inflammation, help repair leaky gut, and improve insulin sensitivity. Other studies say green tea doesn’t do any of those things.

A lot of the green tea studies involve mice, and the results haven’t been replicated in humans
In one study of male mice, they put half on a high-fat diet, something akin to the ketogenic diet, and the other half on a standard mouse diet. The high-fat diet had green tea extract mixed into it. Over time, the group that received the green tea lost 20% more weight than the other group.

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What isn’t clear is how much green tea extract was included in the diet. For all I know, it could be the human equivalent of having thirty cups of green tea or half a pound of green tea powder a day. That’s not a very realistic approach to weight loss. I think about one or two cups of green tea a day would be my limit.

Of course, you can’t look at a study of mice and directly extrapolate to humans. It possible that they share some effects, but it needs to confirmed by testing in humans.

Green tea is one of the many very healthy teas. Oolong tea, Lapsong Suchong, and Jasmine tea are all excellent options. Green tea has a very high flavonoid profile, meaning that it has high antioxidant activity. It’s a superb tea to drink once or twice a day, but I don’t think it’s the nirvana of weight loss. No one is going to lose 100 pounds by merely drinking green tea.

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Questions & Answers

Comparing the Keto and Candida Crusher diets

Which one is better, the ketogenic or the Candida Crusher diet?

Well, in my mind, one isn’t better than the other – they’re just different. It’s up to you to decide which one is right for you. Keto diets have one aim in mind, and that’s to lose weight. Years ago, ketogenic diets were used for medical reasons such as to help manage epilepsy.

The Candida Crusher diet that I created was designed to clean the diet up, particularly the MEVY (meats, egg, vegetables, yogurt) aspect. I like the comment by Dr. Eric Berg, who said healthy people lose weight, losing weight doesn’t make people healthy. I agree because when you have a proper diet and healthy lifestyle, you’re not going to gain weight.

What I think the ketogenic diet lacks is that it doesn’t address stress or lifestyle. It also remains to be seen what the long-term effects are of sticking to a keto eating plan. I also don’t like people thinking that they need to eat a certain way to lose or manage their weight. I prefer that people eat the foods they enjoy within reason.

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I always had my clients look at how their gut what impacted by their diet. I also emphasized the importance of lifestyle to gut health. I’ve known many people who eat keto that still don’t lose weight or gain all the weight back again because of the stress in their life.

The Candida Crusher diet cleans up the gut. The first two weeks is about going “warm turkey.” The focus is on eliminating things from the diet that are barriers to gut health. I also encourage people to eat cultured and fermented foods and anti-microbial foods that can help reduce Candida. Eating things that help bust up the biofilms of dysbiotic flora is encouraged, as is the fiber which increases the production of beneficial lactobacillus.

The Candida Crusher diet also differs from the ketogenic one because it removes any potential allergens from the meal plan. This step allows the person to heal from leaky gut a lot faster. The focus of the Candida diet is not weight loss. It’s about beneficial microbes, improving levels of digestive enzymes, and improving digestion, absorption, and excretion of food.

The Candida Crusher diet doesn’t just result in weight loss. It brings back balance to the gut resulting in lower levels of anxiety, a decrease in brain fog, and increased overall well-being. People on the ketogenic diet avoid corn, wheat, rice, tubers, and cereals. They’re also advised to avoid all sugar and to have only blueberries and raspberries as fruit.

I agree with the ketogenic diets’ advice to avoid artificial sweeteners. And reducing sugar intake overall is reasonable. But I don’t agree with limiting tubers, fruit, and grains.Fruit can contribute to dietary control and contains ample fiber that can increase beneficial bacteria counts.

On the Candida diet, I recommend avoiding grapes, watermelons, other melons, and citrus fruits except for lemons and limes. I think that most people can tolerate oats and rice. There are several good types of rice to eat that provide fiber and help control the appetite.

By and large, the ketogenic diet is reasonable as a short-term plan, but I think it should be customized to your health goals and your gut. Having a diverse diet that includes grains, fruit, and vegetables contributes to a more resilient and balanced gut flora.

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Questions & Answers

What You Need To Know About Gum Arabic

We’re going to talk about gum arabic, an insoluble fiber.

Gum Arabic comes from the Acacia plant that grows in the Sudan. Acacia are also known as Wattle trees. This plant has beautiful flowers that can make you sneeze like crazy. The sap from this tree is dried to make Gum Arabic.

Gum Arabic has been used for many things over the years. I think, at one point, it was even used to make the back of postage stamps sticky.

The insoluble polysaccharides in Gum Arabic are very beneficial for your digestive health as they pass through the GI tract.

In the 1970s, the Federal Drugs Administration in the US categorized Gum Arabic as Generally Recommended as Safe (GRAS), so there aren’t usually any significant risks. Gum Arabic can cause gas, bloating, and loose stools if you take too much from the very beginning.

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I think Gum Arabic is definitely worth a shot if you’re carrying a bit of excess weight, or if you want to build up beneficial gut bacteria. As per usual, take it slowly. You can’t go from zero to 100 miles an hour in three seconds without breaking your neck.

Studies have shown that one ounce (28 grams) is quite beneficial. If you do that for six weeks, you can potentially lose up to 2% of your body weight. In one study of about 120 women, the subjects were divided into two groups. One group got 30 grams of Gum Arabic per day, and the other group were given a different type of insoluble fiber. After six weeks, only the Gum Arabic group had lost 2% of their body weight.

When you eat Gum Arabic, it generates a sense of satiety. It changes the way the satiety hormone, leptin, reacts with your gut and brains. You’re not going to feel like eating a lot of food when you’ve had a good dose of Gum Arabic.

That being said, I wouldn’t use it primarily as a weight-loss tool. I would look at Gum Arabic as a way to improve gut health. It’s a nice powder that you can add to different dishes. It’s very good for the digestive system and is even linked to lowering cholesterol.

Taking a half an ounce of Gum Arabic a day helps bind LDL cholesterol and move it out of the body. Oat bran and rolled oats do the same.

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