Tag Archives: Candida Treatment

Questions & Answers

The Gut-Healthy Effects Of Sunlight

I recently read a study that demonstrated a relationship between ultraviolet light and an improvement in the gut microbiota.

There’s been a big increase globally in autoimmune disease, inflammatory disease, heart disease, and many other illnesses. These increases have been termed “idiopathic” – meaning no known cause.

But, to me, there is a pretty obvious cause, particularly when you read studies like this one. This is the first study that shows there’s a relationship between ultraviolet light and an improvement in the gut microbiota. This is a fascinating discovery.

This finding correlates with a lot of the information that I’ve been presenting for years. Science is validating that lifestyle, including getting out in the sun, improves your health. There is evidence that getting out in the sun improves your gut microbiota.

Further readings:

I love going out in the sun, but I’m no fool. I wouldn’t go out in the middle of the day on a hot summer’s day. Do wear a hat and take protection.

It’s ultraviolet A that can be dangerous to your skin. It’s also the type of sunlight that peppers the earth. 95% of the ultraviolet that comes from the sun is UVA. It’s a very powerful light source. It penetrates deep into the skin and can be very harmful to some people.

UVB is a different, narrow band of light. It’s UVB that has a particularly beneficial impact on the body and helps increase vitamin D.

In this study, there were two groups of healthy females. One cohort was given vitamin D leading up to winter, and the other cohort wasn’t. Both group were then exposed to ultraviolet B light three to four times per week. Their vitamin D levels were assessed throughout the study.

Within a week or two, there was a 7.3% increase of vitamin d in the bloodstream of people exposed to ultraviolet B light. But, we already knew that UVB increases vitamin D. So, the more interesting finding was they also found an improvement in gut microbiota after exposure to UVB.

Whether that’s a relationship with vitamin D or a separate issue, remains to be seen. But the point I’m making here is when you go out in the sun, you’re actually improving your gut microbiota. In other words, exposing your skin to the sun modulates the human intestinal microbiome.

The sun should not be shunned. It’s healthy. The best time to go in the sun is before 10 am and then again late afternoon. Don’t go in the sun in the middle of the day lying in a bikini, and then wondering why you look like a lobster.

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Questions & Answers

The Connection Between Leaky Gut And Autoimmune Disease

Despite growing recognition that leaky gut triggers many illnesses, including autoimmune conditions, there is surprisingly little science on how to address this leak.

Although restoring healthy gut and microbiota is considered essentials, conventional medical doctors often debate how best to achieve this. Even alternative practitioners haven’t arrived at a consensus.

When I started practice a long time ago, and I talked about intestinal permeability, people were looking at me like I needed a psychiatric evaluation. Okay? Well, no longer are they looking at me like that.

A lot of doctors know that intestinal permeability exists, but they often don’t have the knowledge or skill set to address a leaky gut. Many MDs, bless their souls, have used pharmaceutical medications for so long, other skills have atrophied. They may give lip service to diet, but their knowledge isn’t extensive.

There are some conventionally trained doctors that masquerade as naturopaths. There walk around in a white coat, saying, “Don’t eat this food and don’t eat that food.” What annoys the heck out of me is that a lot of these doctors have prescribed antibiotics for years, and now they are getting on board with treating leaky gut.

Further readings:

I’ve always worked in intestinal permeability and tried to get patients to understand that lifestyle and diet are paramount in improving gut function. I have always made the point that drugs are usually not the answer to chronic gut problems. In rare cases, pharmaceuticals are necessary, but that is not generally the case.

There is more and more evidence that you can reduce antibody levels by taking gluten, alcohol, coffee, tea, nuts, grains, legumes, and nightshades out of the diet. However, I’m not a fan of a rigid of lists of foods to avoid. The physician or naturopathy needs to customize the patient’s diet rather than applying a cookie-cutter approach.

Patients can usually start putting a lot of these foods back in relatively quickly.
To me, the concern isn’t gluten per se but how much gluten people are eating and how often food is very poor quality.

I’m convinced that eating the right kind of food and living the right kind of lifestyle is the key to preventing autoimmune conditions.

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Questions & Answers

How Bacteria Impacts Your Appetite

Let’s talk about hunger and bacteria. I’ve read so many studies now on this topic, and it’s so exciting to see that many bacteria are involved in stimulating appetite or decreasing appetite.

Research using DNA sequencing of bacteria has begun to reveal the connection between the microbiome, appetite, and satiety (or lack thereof).

Common bacteria like Escherichia coli (E. coli) can produce proteins that increase or decrease appetite.

I’ve always maintained that the human gut is a lot like a garden. If you disrupt the balance in the garden, problems will surface.

Further readings:

I keep my whole garden as an ecosystem. When people visit my garden, they’re astounded at all the insects. I’m creating an ecologically balanced system.

Balance is just as essential in the human gut. When we achieve gut health, you won’t have the gas, bloating, or problems with appetite and satiety. Next thing you know, you will have lost ten pounds without much effort. It’s because you are living according to the laws of nature.

When you work with Mother Nature, she’ll take care of you. If you flaunt those laws and pump chemicals and antibiotics into your body, you’re going to run into problems.

Modern science needs to take a long, hard look at nature. It’s hard to ignore the importance of protecting your body’s beneficial bacteria when you take in the lessons from a garden.

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Questions & Answers

A Cautionary Tale: Hospitals And Your Gut Flora

Just three days in the hospital can change the bacteria in your gut.

People who end up in the intensive care unit (ICU) can have a massive shift in the gut microbiota within 72 hours. Hundreds of species of bugs can be wiped out in a snap, and it can take months to years to recover.

I have clients who were on antibiotics for years. It’s hard to see the destruction of beneficial bacteria that goes on day after day.

Dr. Mark Pallen, a British microbial genomics researcher at the Quadram Institute, lead the research on the impact of an ICU admission on gut flora. I suspected that there would be an impact of hospitalization, but I was taken back at the scale of the change to the flora.

To assess the impact of intensive care treatment on the gut microbiome, the team tracked 24 people admitted to a hospital in Birmingham, UK, for trauma, heart attacks, cancer, and other emergencies. The tracking was done over 10 months and included people ages 25 to 85. Many of the patients were unconscious or sedated.

Further readings:

After getting permission from family members, the research team looked at stool samples. They conducted DNA sequencing on the samples and found that over 75% of the patients experienced a significant reduction in microbial diversity during their ICU stay.

The most significant changes to the microbiome were associated with IV use.
The gut is normally an ecosystem in its own right. The gut is the foundation, the root, of our health. This part of the body determines overall health. Science has allowed us to understand just how important the human microbiota is to well-being.

Unfortunately, the conventional medical system has contributed to a great deal of destruction of the gut ecosystem. Is it any wonder why people end up sicker coming out of the hospital than when they went in the first place?

That’s why I’m so healthy. I don’t go to the hospital. Try and keep out of these places if you can, okay?

If you get pumped full of IV antibiotics, you may suffer it for years.

Another researcher, Joost Wiersinga from the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam, has this to say, “Medics should do more to minimize the disruption to gut bacteria.”
I agree 100%.

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Questions & Answers

Body Weight In Asia Versus The USA: Why The Difference?

Why are people in Asia slimmer on average than people in the USA?

I spent a lot of time in India. I did postgraduate training as a homeopath way back. The interesting thing was, the obese people I noticed were usually wealthy people. I could not believe the disparity I saw between the rick and the poor.

We see some of the same differences in the Western world. It’s incredible the difference in size between people in Texas or Louisianna and people in Tokyo.

However, more recently, we are starting to see an increase in obesity in Japan. This increase can be explained by the influx of junk food coming into Japan.

Further readings:

When I was a young guy a long time ago, the average life expectancy of the Japanese male was 77.9 years of age, which is the highest on earth. It’s not hard to see why. Rice, fish, seaweed, and vegetables are the cornerstones of the Japanese diet. When you eat like this, you end up lean and mean.

Traditionally in South Korea and Japan, people ate lots of seafood and rice and fresh and pickled vegetables. They didn’t have the burger joints and the home-delivered pizza.
In Asian culture, it is also more polite to have smaller portion sizes. Eating was more of a ritual than something you do while sitting in front of your computer.

I noticed the same in India. I saw people walk vast distances and eat small amounts of food. Some families I saw were just living basically on lentils and rice with a few tomatoes and onions thrown in, and that was about it.

What I’ve learned from my Asian experience is that the healthiest people usually have the smallest portion sizes and the highest quality food.

We don’t see that in the United States. We don’t see people with small portion sizes. Every time I eat in L.A., they put enough food on my plate to feed me and my wife and my child. There’s enough for three or four people there. So I usually am amazed at the mountains of food. Quantity, too much. Quality, not good.

When you add high stress to the low quality and overabundance of food in the U.S., you’re going to get massive problems with obesity.

You don’t need to be overweight if you live in the U.S. I’ve met many very slim people in the States as well. Often these people are more knowledgeable about health and make better dietary and lifestyle choices.

You can also choose to eat and live like someone in Asia, even if you’re living in the U.S.

Sources:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28642059
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26458564