Tag Archives: Yeast Infection

Questions & Answers

The Impact Of Sugar On The Gut

Can too much sugar affect your gut?

Absolutely. Too much sugar can wreck your gut.

Sugar, as you probably have realized by now, is highly addictive. When you start hitting seven teaspoons or more a day, the addiction becomes very strong.

I know some people are so addicted to sugar that it’s almost impossible for them to come off it. Sugar has demonstrated addictive qualities like narcotics. That’s how strong it is for some people.

But, I can assure you once you get through the cravings stage, you won’t want to add any more to your diet. As you focus on eating fruit rather than sweets, you’ll be even less inclined to eat a high-sugar diet.

Further readings:

Sugar can damage your gut in many ways. When your intake is seven teaspoons or more of sugar, the body has difficulty processing it properly. As a result, a significant amount of sugar passes into the colon, where it can cause intense fermentation followed by gas and bloating.

Sugar that hasn’t been digested properly will also prevent good bacteria from sticking to the colon wall. As a result, there is a reduction in the levels of beneficial bifidobacteria.

Lower bifidobacteria accounts are associated with fatigue, which can trigger a desire for sugar, and the cycle continues.

If that’s the cycle you’re in, I recommend intervening to prevent health problems over the long term. Sometimes replacing white sugar with a little bit of honey is a relatively easy first step.

Refined sugar is not good for your gut. It’ll cause a mess that’s not worth it in the long run.

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Questions & Answers

Cooking Methods for Weight Loss

What’s the best cooking method for weight loss?

It’s important to know the best way to cook food in order to maintain vital nutrients.

If you search online, you’ll probably find that microwave cooking is described as the “ultimate” way to cook. However, I’m not a fan of microwave cooking. I prefer to steam and stir-fry foods.

Boiling is not a really good food preparation technique. Boiling almost guarantees that nutrients will be lost during the cooking process. It’s estimated that 35 to 65% of nutrient loss occurs by boiling food.

I also think boiled vegetables, boiled potatoes, and a slab of meat is a bland and boring way to eat.

Steaming is a much better way to prepare food as the nutrient loss is only 10 to 15%. I prefer steaming my vegetables very lightly.

You should always be looking for ways to cook without destroying the valuable nutrients. For example, if we look at folic acid, it’s a vitamin that is exceptionally easy to degrade. Deep greens should be minimally processed to avoid this degradation. Folate is essential for cancer prevention, so protect it, if at all possible.

Further readings:

My general philosophy is to cook for less time, cook smaller portion sizes, and cook for flavor.

In terms of cooking for weight loss, the best method is the quickest with the lowest heat that can achieve a satisfactory product.

Personally, I don’t have to cook food overly well. I prefer to eat meat that is semi-cooked and still juicy.

Stir-frying is a fantastic technique for weight loss. I love stir-frying using my steel wok and a little bit of sesame oil and the secret ingredient, water.

I will only boil certain tubers, such as sweet potato.

Stewing and grilling are also good options.

In the winter, I recommend hot pot cooking and stewing.

Having flavorful meals is another great weight to encourage weight loss. When food is tasty, it’s more satisfying. Some of the flavors I like are ginger, garlic, lime juice, chili sauce, anchovy sauce, Worchester sauce, and salt and pepper.

Over time, your taste buds will come to appreciate tasty, crunchy food.

Ensure that you are cooking healthy, high fiber foods. This will help you feel full on less food.

And don’t forget to keep your body moving.

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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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Questions & Answers

Sleep And Gut Flora: What’s The Connection?

Recent research conducted on mice has demonstrated a significant effect on gut flora in response to sleep deprivation. The impact was particularly strong with circadian rhythm disruption, which would be similar to shift work.

In the same study, intestinal permeability increased in response to sleep deprivation. The take-home message is that if you want a healthy bowel flora, you need to have a good sleep.
Sleep, or the lack thereof, is linked with several different health problems. So, it’s no surprise that sleep deprivation has also been linked to alterations in the gut flora and intestinal permeability.

My recommendation for people who do shift work is always, try and get out of that crazy situation. If you can’t avoid doing shift work, you find a way to ensure that you get sufficient sleep on a daily basis.

Further readings:

For those people working irregular hours for the long-term, I recommend having periodic stool analyses. The stool tests will document changes to gut flora over time.
Genova diagnostic offers a good stool test, which shows all the different types of classes of gut bacteria.

The answer to the question of whether sleep deprivation has an effect on the gut micro biodynamic is a resounding, “Yes!”.

No doubt, over time, there will be even more studies that validate this finding. Hopefully, research will be able to tell us which strains of bacteria are being affected and the subsequent impact on human health.

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