Believe it or not, at any given time one third of the U.S. population has parasites. And when I tell you it can happen to you, you better believe it! Keep in mind that parasites can range from bacterial types to microscopic amoebas and even larger worms. Remember Biology 101? Pretty gross. In a stool analysis study performed by Dr. Amin of the Parasitology Center in Tempe, Arizona, the most notable parasite, blastocystis hominus, was revealed—a microscopic intestinal little bugger that causes symptoms almost exactly like Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).

I have seen many people who have been diagnosed with IBS, and when they have a stool analysis they find that they actually have blastocystis. This is one reason why some IBS sufferers, despite everything they try, never see any improvement. Not only that, but larger parasites such as tapeworms, hookworms and roundworms are no longer present only in third-world countries… beware, they are here!

 For some good information and moments that will make you squirm, just watch the show “Monsters Inside Me” on Discovery’s Animal Planet channel.

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bacteria, blastocystis hominus, hookworms, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, microscopic intestinal, monsters inside me, Parasites, roundworms, stool, tapeworms

IBS can be depressing, literally and figuratively! A lot of people who may be suffering from a type of digestive disorder such as crohn’s, colitis, IBS or even chronic constipation, many times also suffer from mood disorders such as anxiety, depression or irritability.  Now, I know that not feeling well can make you cranky, but there’s a lot more to it than that. The link between between the gut and the brain is very real. Serotonin, know as “the feel good hormone” is produced in the gut. One reason for depression could be the lack of serotonin because the gut is out of balance.

Without getting too technical, the same type of cells and neurotransmitters found in our brain are also located within the digestive system – which by the way is the largest part of our immune system.  When we get any type of intestinal irritation, inflammation, bacterial or viral infection our “intestinal” immune system reacts by producing proteins called cytokines. These cytokines tell our body what type of reaction to have, such as swelling, stiffness, pain etc…It has now been shown that these cytokines will travel a very unique pathway from the gut to the brain, setting into motion a chemical reaction that results in the breakdown of the neurotransmitters involved in mood stability.

 So, this is a two-way street. When your digestive system is out of balance, you feel depressed and when it’s in good shape you feel good. This may be why we often get a sense of euphoria after a really good dump – you know what I mean.

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IBS

My assistant recently returned from the latest Institute for Functional Medicine conference in southern Florida. For those not familiar with Functional Medicine it is a personalized medicine that deals with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of symptoms for serious chronic disease. In other words, they teach Medical Doctors as well as all other specialties how to evaluate a person to get to the route of a problem or disease and treating the cause verses just treating the symptoms.

A big part of Functional Medicine includes the use of nutraceuticals in treatment.

This year’s conference centered on Mood Disorders, including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder as well as touching base on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Amazingly, one of the focuses of the lectures was the gut-brain connection in relation to mood disorders. More specifically, how reactions of our immune system and gut inflammation can directly affect our brain.

Remember that most of our immune system is in our gut.

Without getting too technical, the same type of cells and neurotransmitters found in our brain are also located within the digestive system. The development of an infection or inflammation anywhere in the body will set the immune system in action. Again, most of this reaction takes place first within the immune system of the digestive tract. Our immune system responds by the reaction of proteins called cytokines. These cytokines tell our body what type of reaction to have, such as swelling, stiffness, pain etc…It has now been shown that these cytokines will travel a very unique pathway and arrive at the brain, setting into motion a chemical reaction that results in the breakdown of the neurotransmitters involved in mood stability and inflammation within the brain itself.

Once this brain inflammation develops, it can remain for months even though the initial problem in the other part of our body gets resolved. This brain reaction can result in symptoms such as brain fog, memory problems, depression and anxiety. In addition, the influx of these cytokines to the brain can disrupt the lining of the brain called the blood-brain-barrier, causing what they now call “Leaky Brain” syndrome, making the brain more susceptible to other agents that do not normally pass this barrier. This is very similar indeed to what we know as Leaky Gut syndrome.

The more inflammation and irritation of the gut lining, as in Leaky Gut, will in turn send more of the cytokines to the brain, resulting in more inflammation and irritation there. In reverse, they are now seeing that healing the gut, reducing inflammation and supporting the immune system with the proper nutraceuticals can in turn reduce depression, anxiety and even reduce some symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

All the more reason to take precautionary measures by supporting your immune system with probiotics, as well as your vitamins and minerals. Taking a glutamine supplement such as IntestiNew will help keep your intestinal tract healthy, reduce inflammation and defer the development of leaky gut.

It is funny that years ago scientists and doctors treated the brain and mood disorders as a total separate entity from the rest of the body. It is nice to see that they now realize the brain is connected to the body, through something called the neck!

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Alzheimer's, cytokines, functional medicine conference, glutamine supplement, gut inflammation, IntestiNew, leaky brain, leaky gut, Probiotics

For many years now scientists have been studying how the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut can contribute to, or influence all kinds of chronic diseases. Diseases such as IBS, Chron’s, colitis, even diabetes, asthma and liver disease. But recently coming into the limelight is research showing that your gut bacteria, specifically the type you have, may be making you fat.

Recent research performed by Cornell University microbiologist Ruth Ley has shown that obese people have a different mix of bacteria in the gut than skinny people. When she fed gut bacteria from obese mice to sterile mice, they got fat, but when the sterile mice consumed the gut bacteria from skinny mice, they gained very little.

The theory behind this is that certain microbial populations allow the body to harvest more calories from food. Over time this could contribute to weight gain. The bacteria found in obese individuals and the one believed to cause this effect belonged to a particular microbial subgroup, hydrogen-producing bacteria known as prevotellaceae.

This research is still in the early stages, but some studies suggest that altering or modifying the gut bacteria may result in weight loss. One way to do just that would be to take a high potency probiotic supplement like Renew Life’s Ultimate Flora 50 Billion that could crowd out this unwanted obesity bacteria. This is not to say that this bacteria is the only factor by any means in obesity.

Adding a good probiotic supplement to your weight loss regime could prove helpful.

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Chron's, colitis, diabetes, IBS, obesity, Omega-3 Oils, probiotic supplement, Probiotics, Ultimate Flora 50 billion