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Questions & Answers

How Do Low-Carb Diets Impact The Gut?

Does eating a low carb diet affect your gut health?

The ketogenic diet has become a worldwide trend. It involves eating more animal-based proteins, more fat, and fewer carbohydrates. A lot of people have taken nearly all grains out of their diet. Not just wheat, but all sorts of carbohydrates.

I’m noticing an alarming trend that so many people are diving headfirst into a ketogenic diet. They are consuming more fresh and processed meats, more fat, more butter, and more coconut oil. They’re also eating large amounts of eggs, chicken, and fish. They might be losing weight, but is it sustainable? Is it healthy? What’s going to happen to their gut over the long term?

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I’m worried about the impact on the gut. By reducing the intact of carbs and fiber, you can starve your colon of the short-chain fatty acids that it needs. SCFA’s are the byproducts of bacterial fermentation.

A ketogenic diet may also be low in antioxidants. A person may lose weight but end up with major gut problems instead due to imbalances in the GI tract. Some doctors respond to this concern by suggesting people follow a “healthy” keto diet. My concern with a healthy keto diet is people are still going to eat far too much meat.

By 2050, it’s predicted that there’ll be over 10 billion people on this planet, and meat consumption is completely unsustainable at that level of population. It’s even unsustainable today. We’re seeing what’s happening around the world with fires and with how much land an animal needs to produce a couple of hamburgers. It’s ridiculous. I’m not a vegan, and I’m not again saying you should not eat meat.

I think meat forms an important part of the diet, but I think it should make up a very small part of what we eat

A high-fat, high meat diet is not suitable for bowel health. It could even contribute to the acceleration of diseases like diabetes and heart disease.

What’s the solution? More plants in your diet. And you definitely don’t want to chop 100% of grains out of your diet. I suspect there are a lot of health complications after years of eating low-carb.

If you look at people living in the Mediterranean, they don’t cut out most of the grains in their diet. The Japanese haven’t taken rice out of their diet. Did they all die of heart disease at a young age? No, the opposite! They live long lifespans. They were skinny people; they weren’t fat people. They were balanced. They had balanced lifestyles, where they worked hard, and ate well.

These people make their own food and have a diet heavy in antioxidant-rich foods. They eat meat sparingly and have ample nuts, seeds, and vegetables. That, to me, is the basis of a healthy diet.

Some of the best carbs to include in your diet are quinoa, millet, oats, buckwheat, bananas, sweet potatoes, beetroots, blueberries and grapefruits, and brown rice.

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Questions & Answers

Para-Cresol: Clostridium Difficile’s Chemical Weapon

There is a very interesting study about Clostridium difficile (C. diff) that’s worth reading.

C. diff is a bacteria that we all have. However, in some people, C. diff can go ballistic in response to a course of antibiotics. This is another reason I am not a fan of the routine use of antibiotics.

I remember producing a video some time ago about antibiotic usage, particularly in America. Back in the ’50s, antibiotic use was so common that some women carried the medication in their purse.

If anyone had a cough or sniffle, out came the antibiotics. Antibiotics were touted as cure-all drugs that could cure any disease. Now, we know that they probably created more diseases than they cured. Be very, very careful about antibiotic usage. I’m absolutely convinced that a time will come when antibiotics are never used again, and their use will be seen as a dark period in the history of medicine. I’m talking a hundred years from now, not in the next five.

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In this study, Dr. Lisa Dawson from the London Tropical School of Medicine and Hygiene discovered that C. diff produces a chemical called para-Cresol. This chemical smothers and kills other surrounding bacteria but doesn’t harm C. diff. That’s obviously a competitive advantage and helps C. diff grow to very high levels. When Dr. Dawson made a mutant form of C. diff that does not produce para-Cresol and put it in the gut of mice, she discovered that this strain of C. diff had plenty of other bacteria growing around it. It seems that para-Cresol is what allows C. diff to ramp up production without very much competition from other gut bacteria.

C. diff is one of the very few conditions where a fecal transplant has shown to work reasonably well. In many cases, I don’t think fecal transplants are worth the $20,000 price tag, but if you have C. diff, it’s probably worth it.

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Questions & Answers

What You Need To Know About Arsenic And The Gut Flora

I read a fascinating study about the impact of arsenic on the microbiome. Professor Anne Hoen did the study out of her lab at Dartmouth.

Dr. Hoen studied the effects of small amounts of arsenic on the microbiome of rats. She discovered that arsenic had a dramatic impact on how the bacteria in the gut functioned. From there, Dr. Hoen decided to do a study of the effects of arsenic on the infant microbiome.

This study was conducted in New Hampshire, a state known to have a significant amount of arsenic in the ground and groundwater. The arsenic is naturally occurring, but it enters private wells. Of course, people who drink this water, including pregnant and nursing women, are exposed to the arsenic.

What they discovered is that when babies are exposed to arsenic, their microbiome is disrupted. Arsenic kills some of the gut bacteria in the infant gut.

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My recommendation is to get a good quality water filter, whether you live in New Hampshire or not. The water filter will remove chemicals like chlorine, fluoride, heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins, and other toxic compounds.

The take-home message from this study is to have your water assessed if you live in an area with naturally occurring arsenic.

If the lab analysis of your water shows significant level of heavy metals, have a hair analysis done as well.

I once had a client who was not improving over time. A sample of the hair on his head showed very little. When we requested an analysis of a pubic hair sample, we found elevated mercury and copper levels.

Copper and other metals like mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and lead are attracted to a particular protein on the cell surface. Copper has a very high affinity for that particular receptor. If we see an elevated copper, we have a high index of suspicion that the patient’s got a heavy metal problem. We can then consider doing a provocation test to see if the patient is going to dump a large chunk of metal. Essentially, we’ve found a potential cause for poor health.

Cutting to the chase, don’t let your children drink water if it’s contaminated. Get the water checked if you’ve got a well. If there are health problems in the family, get some hair analysis to rule out possible heavy metal contamination.

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Questions & Answers

The Key To Gaining Weight On An Anti-Inflammatory Diet

“How do I gain weight on a seborrheic dermatitis diet?”

Seborrheic dermatitis is a chronic skin condition that often affects the scalp. One of the treatments for seborrheic dermatitis is to follow an anti-inflammatory diet.

If you have seborrheic dermatitis, it is particularly important to avoid bad fats like those found in deep-fried foods and takeout. Following the Standard American Diet (SAD) is not recommended for people with seborrheic dermatitis.

A seborrheic dermatitis diet includes an emphasis on fresh food.

If I had seborrheic dermatitis, I would start with getting a comprehensive stool analysis. I would want to know what imbalance exists and determine the levels of beneficial bacteria in my gut. I’d also be on the lookout for yeast, parasites, and any dysbiosis.

Many people with dermatitis have got dysbiosis. They’ve got lots of harmful bacteria circulating throughout their gut. Often, they’ll have bad breath as well and a coated tongue.

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Stool testing and appropriate treatment are essential for effective management of seborrheic dermatitis. I also recommend digestive enzymes. I find pancreatic enzymes, in particular, really help people with seborrheic dermatitis.

A seborrheic dermatitis diet would probably very similar to the one I eat. Oily fish like mackerel, tuna, herring, and salmon offer the right kinds of fat.

The best way to gain weight while following a seborrheic dermatitis, or anti-inflammatory, diet is to cut the junk out of your meal plan. Start eating healthier and healthier will adding supplements like omega-3 fatty acids and probiotics to your daily routine. I’d also recommend taking fat-soluble supplements like vitamins A, D, E, and K. I’ve found vitamin A to be particularly helpful for dermatitis.

Check to see if you have any food allergies. Many people with seborrheic dermatitis have got an allergy.

If you’ve got a runaway, out-of-control skin, and you see no improvement despite improving your gut health, get tested for leaky gut and food allergies. For food allergy testing, we are interested in IgE and IgG antibodies.

Take the founds that are causing peaks in these antibodies out of your diet.

You’re not going to be able to gain weight if your gut is in poor shape. By improve your gut flora, your bowel habits will improve along with your energy and sleep patterns. Taking this approach has worked for a lot of my clients. I hope it will work for you too.

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Questions & Answers

A Day In The Diet Of A Naturopath

My diet is made up of fresh, healthy foods.

I try and grow as many vegetables and fruit as possible. I also cut and process my food on the spot, to ensure nutrients and flavor are preserved.

For breakfast, I usually have organic rolled oats. I plan on starting to buy groats, mill them myself, and end up with fresh oatmeal with all the lovely oils and flavors preserved. The result is a very creamy rolled oat. Once you cook the oats in water or a little bit of non-homogenized milk, the taste is delicious. It’s so good; you won’t want to eat it any other way. I often cook the oatmeal with raisins and serve it with a bit of honey on top. I’ll have a large banana, a couple of small kiwi fruit, or berries as well.

Other breakfast options include a couple of eggs with grilled tomato, steamed spinach, and avocado. Notice how there’s no bread in with the mix. I very rarely eat any bread.

For lunch, I often have stir-fried vegetables, including bok choy or gai lan. I have some lean protein as well – a piece of tofu. I eat organic tofu two to three times per week. I’ll serve the vegetables with soba (buckwheat noodles) or brown rice. I also include garlic in the stir-fry. I eat anywhere from two to ten cloves of garlic per day. I eat a large range of vegetables, depending on what we have in the garden at any one time.

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For supper, I might have a piece of salmon with a big salad that includes a variety of greens, including purple lettuce and radicchio. I also add spring onion, spinach, edible flowers like borage or nasturtium, tomato, Kalamata olives, and cucumber. Sometimes I’ll also add some goats’ feta. Herbs are another essential part of my salad. I might put a big handful of fresh basil or other herbs into the mix.

For my salad dressing, I’ll squeeze some lime juice over the top and add minced cloves of garlic. Next will be the juice of a large lemon, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, a dash of sesame oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Sometimes I’ll also add a tiny little bit of anchovy sauce to give the salad a fantastic flavor.

Salad is always consumed fresh, and the rest is binned. We never keep what’s left at the end of the meal. I recommend starting each meal fresh rather than eating leftovers.

We like all sorts of different foods in our household. Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, French, and Japanese are all popular around here.

I don’t often eat desserts. I’ve got to watch my ever-expanding waistline. If I’m going to make anything, I might make a dish called hallway, which is semolina cooked in butter. In the summer, I might have some yogurt or fruit if I’m feeling peckish in the evening.

I drink one or two glasses of wine about two to three times per week. Apart from that, I drink a lot of purified water.

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