Tag Archives: candida diet

Questions & Answers

Glutamine And Gut Health

L-glutamine is an amino acid found in many different types of foods. Glutamine is found in chicken or bone broth, brassicas, and high protein foods like fish.

Many bodybuilders and athletes use glutamine because it boosts muscle and bone growth.
Brain function benefits from glutamine as well. Glutamine is one of the primary fuels for enterocytes, the cells that line the gut. I have seen studies that demonstrate glutamine boosting the immune system by increasing secretory IgA.

On the other hand, I have had clients who experienced significant side effects from L-glutamine. So, don’t just jump straight into the water. Put your big toe in first, okay?
If you’re going to take glutamine, and you’ve got GI issues such as leaky gut, IBS, Candida, or abdominal discomfort, don’t rush into taking large doses of L-glutamine. Instead, start with small quantities, and take it from there.

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I recommend that glutamine be taken with protein foods rather than an empty stomach. The average dose for many people is between 500 and 2,000 milligrams per day. Some websites recommend megadoses from 30 grams up to 80 grams per day. I consider that very foolhardy. Mega dosing on any supplement just doesn’t make sense, regardless of what it is.
With glutamine, start small, build up, watch the bowel motions, and use the eyeball test. Look into the toilet and see what the stool’s doing. Keep track of your gut comfort after starting glutamine.

When you introduce glutamine into your diet as a supplement, don’t start10 other things at the same time. Take glutamine, for example, at a rate of say 500 milligrams per day for several days, build up to 1,000, watch the stool, watch the gut symptoms, and watch the food sensitivities. If you start noticing improvements or changes, you may well be getting a good benefit from it. You could slowly step it up to 1,000 or 2,000 milligrams per day.

As per usual, if something benefits you, take it. If it doesn’t, get rid of it. It’s not a dietary necessity. But for people pushing their body hard through physical training and eating a lot of food, there is definitely a benefit from glutamine.

With regards to leaky gut, I’ve seen glutamine result in significant improvement. If the leaky gut comes along with SIBO, parasites, or Candida, it may be hard to tolerate the glutamine. In that case, start with a cleanse, eradicate the gut microbe imbalances, and then undergo a trial of glutamine.

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The Health Benefits Of Elderberry

Elderberry is a plant, also known as Sambucus nigra.

Sambucus is a fascinating medicinal plant that’s been used now for probably thousands of years. I used to grow this plant in Australia.

Elderberry can grow up to nine meters tall. I used to grow it down around my verandah in the backyard. Elderberry has beautiful big clusters of lovely, aromatic white, creamy flowers.
People make champagne or fizzy drinks from elderberry flowers.

The berries of Sambucus nigra are quite tart and need to be cooked. The berries have a high vitamin C and antioxidant content. The antioxidant compounds in elderberry fruit include phenolic acids and different flavonols like quercetin and kaempferol.

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The compounds in elderberry are very good at fixing free radical damage. As a result, elderberry is very good for people under a lot of stress who want to prevent progression to heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.

Several natural medicines contain Sambucus. Studies have demonstrated the elderberry can help prevent flu and shorten the duration if you do develop symptoms. Sambucus is thought to upregulate the immune system.

With regards to the gut, the combination of vitamin C, other antioxidants, and fiber, helps boost up beneficial bacteria levels.

I highly recommend growing elderberry. In addition to being very nutritious, it is a beautiful plant. Thankfully, Sambucus nigra grows well in a lot of different climates.

You can infuse elderberry flowers in hot water, cool it down, and end up with a lovely beverage. Some people just float the flowers in ice water. You can also make tea out of the leaves or the berries.

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Questions & Answers

Why Eating Too Much Fruit Isn’t Good For Your Gut

Some patients I see eat way too much fruit. Some people eat ten pieces of fruit per day. I think that’s far too much.

Eating anything in excess is not good for the body. I’ve always maintained that consuming particular foods is fine, like vegetable consumption or meat consumption, but it should be in balance with other kinds of foods.

I’m not here to argue the different merits of diets, you know, whether you are a vegan or whether you are a paleo person. This article is about the downsides of eating too much fruit.
If you eat excessive amounts of fruit, you’re going to be overloaded with fructose. Fructose consumed in abundance can upset intestinal permeability and encourage the growth of harmful bacteria in the gut.

Some studies have shown that large amounts of fructose can cause liver damage. Further, people who eat far too much fruit tend to have lower Bacteroides levels. At the same time, proteobacteria levels tend to go up.

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The microbiome often reflects the type of food a person east. For example, Prevotella bacteria thrive in the gut when a person eats a lot of fiber, particularly vegetable fiber.

Bacteroides bacteria prefer a mixed kind of a diet, especially if there’s a bit of meat in the diet. A healthy person will have a balance of different classes of bacteria.

If a person starts overeating one particular food, the result can be a bacterial imbalance in the gut. That’s why my motto is “Everything in moderation, nothing in excess” when it comes to healthy foods.

Of course, this motto doesn’t apply to unhealthy foods like high-fructose corn syrup. Up to 60% of foods now in US supermarkets contain high-fructose corn syrup. Avoid that substance as much as you can.

I am in favor of fruit, but I’m definitely not in favor of ten pieces of fruit a day. Definitely not.

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Questions & Answers

High Fat Diets And Your Gut: What You Need To Know

Is a high-fat diet bad for your gut?

That’s an interesting question, and I think this question came in response to a published study from China.

The research put 200 people onto a variety of diets. There was a relatively low-fat diet, with about 20% of the calories from fat. There was an intermediate fat diet with about 30% of calories from fat. Lastly, there was a high-fat diet, with about 40% of calories from fat. The protein and fiber content were the same for each diet. It was just the percentage of fat calories that increased.

What they found was very interesting. After some time, stool and blood samples were taken from all study participants.

The results should that for mainly people ages 18-35, the bowel flora differed based on diet. Subjects eating more fat had higher levels of Bacteroides, a bacteria associated with fat and meat consumption. Thes same subjects had lower levels of Bifidobacteria and Blautia. Long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) were higher in the bowels of people eating higher fat diets. LCFA are byproducts of fermentation in the bowel. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) are good for the bowel, but LCFAs can be problematic.

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LCFA can lead to more inflammation and conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
In this study, the predominant source of fat was soybean oil. Keep in mind that soybean oil isn’t a great oil to include in your diet.

In other words, this study did not use healthy fats from salmon, avocado, nuts, or seeds. (Although, keep in mind that not all seed oils are good).

Because the fat provided in this study wasn’t monounsaturated from what I can gather, and the possibility of deep-fried foods being ingested, these factors may explain some of the findings.
In other words, don’t automatically assume that a high-fat diet is going to create a big problem. It depends on how much fat you’re eating in relation to protein, carbs, and fiber. It also depends on the type of fat you are eating. And, of course, lifestyle factors like alcohol intake, stress, and physical activity will influence your gut flora.

I wouldn’t assume that a high-fat diet is bad for you based on this study. But, if you’re eating the wrong kinds of fat, you could run into problems. Deep-fried chicken nuggets and French fries aren’t going to help your gut any.

Monounsaturated fats like olive oil and foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids (e.g., salmon) are going to be way better for your gut than these saturated fats.
What I take from this study is that take-away food made with low-quality fats is bad for your gut.

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Questions & Answers

What You Can Do If You Have Clostridium Difficile

Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is a bacteria that lives in the gut.

Some people can get a very serious C. diff infection after using antibiotics such as clindamycin. In one study, clindamycin was shown to wipe the gut almost entirely for two years. One dose.

Most cases of C. diff occur in hospital. One of the biggest causes of this infection is antibiotic use.

Conventional medical websites will say that the cause of C. diff is antibiotics and the cure is antibiotics.

To me, that’s like saying, “Watch out for handguns. They kill people.

By the way, if you carry a handgun, it’ll help you not get killed.”

If you’ve got a clostridium difficile infection, the concern is that you’ve got a 20% chance or recurrent C. diff infections.

If you have C. diff, my recommendation is to get a comprehensive stool analysis. The stool test will tell you if you also have problems with yeast, parasites, or other harmful bacteria. It will also indicate your levels of beneficial bacteria.

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I highly recommend you use a proper lab like Genova Diagnostics or Doctor’s Data for your stool test.

Some people recover quite quickly from C.diff. For others, it becomes a chronic infection. Some will have relapses and recurrences. Unfortunately, some people have a very poor recovery from C. diff.

Fecal microbial transplants are recommended in some cases. Some people have to be hospitalized and have surgery for C. diff.

As far as diet goes, if you have C. diff, you should avoid aggravating foods.

To keep a long story short, with C. diff, it’s definitely an advantage to be alcohol, coffee, and caffeine-free for at least three to six months.

I would recommend including steamed vegetables and other easy to eat foods in your diet. You’ll have to monitor what does and does not agree with your GI system. For example, some people with C. diff have quite bad diarrhea and abdominal pain when eating salads. Lemon juice and apple cider vinegar may also be poorly tolerated on the presence of C. diff.

Yogurt is often fine, but be cautious with kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut.

For protein, emphasize lean protein without too much fat. Fish and eggs are usually perfectly fine.

Proceed with caution when it comes to fruit. I don’t think bananas or oranges are great foods for people with gut problems. I think the same about white bread.

Drinking water is essential because C. diff causes diarrhea.

As far as supplements go, grapefruit seed extract works quite well for C. diff.

Try not to take antibiotics if you want to prevent clostridium difficile infection, especially if you’re older. I suggest avoiding antibiotics unless it’s a matter of life and death.

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