Author Archives: Dr. Peter Knight

Stomach Acid is Good for You!

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If you have been watching television in the past decade you have seen the commercials. People suffering from heartburn and indigestion are magically cured by taking a little purple pill that combats the evil effects of stomach acid. No need to change your diet or other habits. Just pop a pill and everything will be ok. Just don’t pay too much attention to the list of possible side effects at the end of the commercial.

Acid blocking medications are the number one selling drugs in the United States accounting for annual sales of more than $13 billion a year. Once only available by prescription they are now available over the counter at your local drug store. With so many people buying drugs to combat stomach acid you would think that it was a horrible thing that we would want to get rid of. Thank goodness we have all of these options, whatever did we do before?

However, there here is another side to this conversation. For the majority of people, the symptoms of heartburn and acid reflux are typically not caused by an over production of stomach acid. In fact, the majority of people suffering from heartburn and reflux actually have low production of stomach acid In addition, suppression of stomach acid can have long[1]term adverse consequences.

How can this be? Stomach acid is produced by cells that line the stomach. The production is increased in response to food and begins the process of breaking down the meal you just ate. The stomach acid is hydrochloric acid; the same hydrochloric acid that you used in high school chemistry class and that can burn a whole in metal. In order to prevent the acid from burning a hole in the lining of the stomach, the cells that line the stomach produce a layer of mucous that protects the lining and allow the acid to do its job.

When you experience heartburn or reflux some of the stomach acid finds it way up into your esophagus. While your stomach has a nice protective coating, your esophagus does not. So, when the acid accidentally comes up into the esophagus you experience a burning sensation.

At the bottom of the esophagus is a gate called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES). The LES is designed to allow food and liquids to enter the stomach from above, but should prevent the contents of the stomach from coming back up into the esophagus. A number of things can decrease the effectiveness of the LES including smoking, obesity, food allergies, and low stomach acid. When the acid production. is decreased it is more likely for acid to find its way back into your esophagus and cause you pain and discomfort.

Taking an antacid such as Tums, a proton pump inhibitor such as Prilosec, or an H2 blocker such as Zantac do work to decrease the symptoms of heartburn. The proton pump inhibitors are able to suppress stomach acid production by greater than 90%. With very little stomach acid in the stomach there is little chance of the acid finding its way up into the esophagus and so you don’t get reflux or heart burn. The drawback is that you are left without stomach acid.

With low levels of stomach acid you are not able to adequately digest the food that you eat and are more likely to have gastrointestinal issues such as heartburn, reflux, irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea, constipation, gastritis, gall bladder disease and paradoxically heartburn and reflux. Low stomach acid is also associated with an increase in overgrowth of the small intestine with problematic bacteria. In addition to gastrointestinal dysfunctions, low stomach acid production is also associated with increased risk of numerous disease states outside the gastrointestinal tract including asthma, food Allergies, pneumonia, rheumatoid arthritis (and other autoimmune conditions), depression, rosacea, eczema, anemia.

So next time you are experiencing heartburn, instead of cursing stomach acid and reaching for a pill, think about why you might be having heartburn and work on fixing the underlying cause as opposed to using a treatment that may cause more harm than good. For my tips on preventing heartburn, click here.

Posted in Gastrointestinal Health, General Health

Summer Recipes from the Omnivore’s Delight Archive

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Strawberry Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups diced strawberries
  • ½ jalapeño pepper
  • 1/4 of a medium white onion, finely minced
  • ½ cup cilantro, chopped
  • Juice of ½ a lime
  • ½ tsp salt.

Remove seeds and ribs from pepper. Mince into small pieces. 

Combine berries, pepper, onion, and cilantro in a small bowl.  Pour lime juice over the top and sprinkle with salt.  Mix to combine.  Serve with chips, or try on grilled chicken or salmon.

Jicama Mango Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium jicama, peeled and chopped into ¼ inch cubes
  • 1 small white onion chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 medium mango peeled and cut into ¼ inch cubes  (Can use frozen mango)
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 2tbsp lime juice
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves

In a colander, toss jicama and onion with salt.  Allow to sit for 15 minutes. Rinse and put in a large bowl.  Add mango, lime juice, lemon juice, cilantro, and pepper.  Toss to combine, adjust seasoning to taste.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate until serving.

Sesame Garlic Snap Pea Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh sugar snap peas
  • 3 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 Tbsp seasoned rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 clove garlic smashed and chopped
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp sesame seeds

Put the snap peas in a medium bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, rice vinegar, pepper flakes, garlic, and salt.  Pour dressing over the snap peas and toss to coat well. Sprinkle on sesame seeds and toss again to distribute them.  Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Posted in Recipes

Cooling the Flames of Chronic Inflammation

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We are all familiar with inflammation. The redness, pain, and swelling that accompany a sunburn, a cut, a sprained ankle or a cold cause us short term discomfort but are signs that our bodies immune and repair functions are working well. These kinds of inflammation are good, and we need them to survive. They go on for only a finite period of time and then resolve. The problem occurs when the body is exposed to chronic inflammation over long periods of time. An overactive immune response and too much inflammation can result in conditions we associate with inflammation such as allergies, arthritis, asthma, and autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, inflammation can be at the root of chronic health conditions such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and some forms of cancer. While acute forms of inflammation such as a cut or chronic inflammation such as joint pain can be obvious, in many cases we may be having chronic inflammation without even noticing it. This smoldering fire, if left unchecked, can go on for years before we develop an obvious disease state. Some of the causes of this hidden inflammation are:

  • Food allergies/sensitivities
  • Diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugar
  • Diets high in processed foods
  • Diets high in “bad” fats such as trans-fats and excess saturated fat and low in “healthy” fats such as those that come from cold water fish and flaxseed.
  • Chronic environmental allergies such as mold and dust mites
  • Toxic exposures
  • Chronic viral, bacterial, or fungal infections
  • Stress

Because chronic low-grade inflammation is not always obvious, it can be difficult to figure out the cause and to make changes to decrease it before it has effects on your overall health. Fortunately, there is a blood test that can be done called HS-CRP or high sensitivity C-reactive protein that can indicate whether or not chronic inflammation is an issue for you. If your HS-CRP level is elevated, the next step is to make dietary and lifestyle changes that help to decrease inflammation such as:

  • Eat whole foods, minimally processed diet.
  • Limit intake of dairy products and when you do consume them, make sure they are organic.
  • Limit intake of animal products and choose grass fed, free range and wild game meats when you do eat it.
  • Include wild cold-water fish such as Alaskan salmon, halibut, mackerel, and sardines into your diet.
  • Limit foods containing refined sugar and refined carbohydrates. Avoid foods containing high fructose corn syrup.
  • Avoid foods containing hydrogenated oils or transfats.
  • Choose omega 3 eggs from chickens that have been fed flax seeds.
  • Include oils in your diet that are high in omega 3 fatty acids such as flax seed, walnut, and pumpkin.
  • seed.
  • Include anti-inflammatory spices in your cooking such as ginger, turmeric, curry powder, garlic, onions, and cinnamon.
  • Include at least 5 servings of vegetables in your diet each day, including anti-inflammatory options such as broccoli, beets, kale, cauliflower, chard, and sweet potatoes.
  • Take dietary supplements that help to decrease chronic inflammation such as curcumin, black seed, and fish oil.  You can order these through the online dyspensary Fullscript.

In addition, it may be necessary to investigate the underlying causes of inflammation such as food allergies/ sensitivities, environmental allergies and toxicities, nutritional insufficiencies, or chronic infections. Discovering the cause of the “fire” can help you to be able to put it out and decrease your risk of developing a number of chronic diseases.

I can help to investigate if you are having chronic inflammation, what is causing it and develop an individualized health plan to help to decrease inflammation and help you on the path towards optimal health. Call today for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Order supplements through my Fullscript store.

Posted in General Health

Are Dietary Supplements Sending People To The Emergency Room?

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emergencyI routinely recommend the use of dietary supplements as part of my treatment plans with my patients.  Because of this my ears perked up when I heard a story on NPR a couple of weeks ago about the high number of people ending up in the ER due to adverse events related to dietary supplements. The story was about a study in the New England Journal of Medicine published on October 15th that found that an estimated 23000 emergency room visits each year were attributed to dietary supplements.

Now I am of the belief that it would be ideal to prevent any visit to the emergency room and so I was curious to look into the details of the study a little bit further.  23,000 sounds like a large number, but when you take into account that there are 136 million ER visits each year, this ends up being a very small percentage of total ER visits- .019% to be exact. To put this into perspective, 731,000 ER visits were associated with adverse events to the medical use of prescription drugs, 775,000 pediatric visits were for injuries associated with organized sports, 1.2 million visits were due to alcohol ingestion as the primary cause, and over 76,000 were for fire arm related injuries.

According to 2011 data 166 million Americans use dietary supplement and so there is only a .015% chance that someone taking a dietary supplement is going to end up in the ER because of an adverse event.   As I said, I feel that any preventable ER visit is too many, but taking dietary supplements seems like a relatively low risk behavior and not worthy of devoting the media attention to it that it has received.

Looking at the study even more closely, 20% of the visits were due to accidental ingestion by children under the age of 4. While this is a serious issue, it has nothing to do with the supplements themselves but instead has more to do with the childproofing of the home.  Of the close to 3000 visits that were attributed to those over the age of 65, over 60% were because of swallowing issues. Again this is a serious issue, but has less to do about the safety of the dietary supplements themselves.

This is not to say that there were no actual adverse events associated with supplements use. The products responsible for 42% of the total ER visits were supplements marketed for energy and weight loss. Many of these products contain stimulants and ingredients that are not really dietary supplements but instead should be classified as undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients. While I agree that many of these supplements pose potential harm and should be taken off the market, the actual risk is still relatively low.

Posted in Dietary Supplements

Just a Spoonful of Honey…

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Camp 2013 025Last year, my wife and I began our latest hobby, beekeeping. Over the course of the summer our hives built up from fledgling colonies to robust pollinating and nectar collecting forces.  Despite getting our fair share of stings, by August we managed to harvest over 50 pounds of honey. This amount is staggering when you consider that it takes 12 bees their entire lives to produce 1 tsp of honey and that on average bees have to visit 2 million flowers to produce 1 pound of honey.  While 50 pounds sound like a lot, if all goes well, we may end up with four times that amount this year.   We have enjoyed eating and sharing our honey over the past nine months and have been constantly looking for new ways to use it in cooking.  While I think that honey is delicious, as a doctor I have been intrigued by the myriad of benefits it can have on our health as well.

While the rise in the interest in bees and beekeeping is a relatively new phenomenon, the use of honey as medicine is not. The Egyptians were using honey as medicine more than 4000 years ago and would put some in their burial chambers to take into the afterworld.  As a testament to its antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, samples of honey found in Egyptian tombs have been found to be perfectly preserved and still edible.

CSC_0125One of the prime ways that the Egyptians used honey was for dressing wounds.  Honey is still used for wound healing today and studies have backed up its effectiveness.  Honey acts a perfect wound dressing since it cleans the wound, acts as an antimicrobial, stimulates tissue regeneration and reduces inflammation.  Honey has been found to be useful in in a wide range of wounds including abrasions abscesses, bed sores, ulcers, surgical wounds, and burns.

In a time when pharmaceutical antimicrobials are becoming less effective against bacterial infections, honey has shown promise as antimicrobial agent inhibiting the growth of over 60 species of bacteria including MRSA. Unlike conventional antibiotics it does not appear that honey leads to the development of antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.  Honey also does not seem to negatively affect our beneficial gut microbes and has even been shown to increase levels of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria.

Honey has other benefits for the gastrointestinal tract in addition to its impact on the microbiota.  Honey has been shown to speed the healing of gastric and duodenal ulcers and also to decrease inflammation of the stomach known as gastritis.  Use of diluted honey has been found to speed the recovery from cases of infectious diarrhea and gastroenteritis.  Taking a teaspoon of honey before meals has been found to decrease the incidence of heart burn or gastro esophageal reflux.

While the idea of pouring honey in your eye may sound strange, eye drops made from hone have been found to be helpful for various ophthalmological conditions including conjunctivitis, blepharitis, dry eyes, keratitis, corneal injuries and even chemical burns.

I typically recommend patients with increased cardiovascular risk and elevated cholesterol avoid sugar, but honey intake may actually decrease cardiovascular risk.  When natural honey was compared with artificial honey made of fructose and glucose, the natural honey was found to lower total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and CRP, a marker for inflammation.  In addition it caused a slight increase in the more beneficial HDL cholesterol.    Honey was also found to lower blood pressure and its high antioxidant content may further reduce cardiovascular disease risk.

Coughs in children can lead to sleepless nights for both the child and their parents.  A double blind placebo controlled study reported in the journal Pediatrics in 2012 may help give relief to children and their parents.   Children with night time coughs caused by an upper respiratory infection given a spoonful of honey before bed decreased coughing and improved sleep.  Just keep in mind not to use this remedy in children under 1 year of age as there is a small risk of botulism.

In addition to the properties that I have mentioned that have been studied, numerous anecdotal claims about honey’s healing properties exist.  One of the ones that I hear most frequently is the use of local honey to reduce the severity of seasonal allergies.  While studies looking at this effect have not been conclusive, my own experience has shown it to be beneficial.  When using honey for this use it is important for the honey to be as local as possible so that you are getting exposed to the pollens in your area.

a-jar-of-honeyWhen buying honey it is important to know that all honey is not the same and that much of what is sold as honey is actually not honey.  A study from 2011 found that 75% of what is sold as honey has actually had the pollen filtered out of it.  The removal of the pollen appears to decrease the beneficial properties of the honey and definitely decreases it effect on seasonal allergies.  When buying honey it is important to remember that you get what you pay for.  It was also found that inexpensive “honey” from China was actually honey diluted with high fructose corn syrup.

When you buy honey it is best to buy raw honey and the honey should say on it where it was collected.  If you are not able to find local raw honey in your grocery store, try looking at health food stores, farmers markets, or even stores devoted to the sale of honey, bee products and beekeeping supplies like Portland’s The Honey Exchange.  Owners Phil and Megan Gavin have a wide selection of local and non-local raw honeys and can tell you about where the honey comes from, what it tastes like and always have a number of delicious honeys available for sample.  You can also look inside their observation hive and see the bees in action.

For a refreshing thirst quenching summer time treat try this recipe for a honey rhubarb drink from Poland that combines that tang of rhubarb with the sweet floral taste of honey.

Posted in General Health

Polish Honey Rhubarb Drink

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Adapted from a recipe by Barbara Rolekrhubarb cocktails

  • 4 cups water
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 pound rhubarb, peeled if necessary, chopped
  • 3 cups hot water
  • Orange slice or mint for garnish

 

Bring 4 cups water to boil, remove from heat, stir in honey and let cool.

Whiz chopped rhubarb in a food processor. Place pulp in medium bowl, pour hot water over pulp and cover. When bowl is cool enough to handle, place in refrigerator for 2 hours or until cold.

Once cold, strain rhubarb pulp through a sieve into honey-water mixture. Stir. Pour over ice and garnish with either an orange slice or a mint leaf.

Posted in Recipes

Find the foods that are healthy for you.

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4fFood sensitivities are a common occurrence affecting more than 35% of the population Food sensitivities can cause a wide range of symptoms including:

  • Weight gain
  • Heartburn
  • Constipation
  • Diarrhea
  • Low energy
  • Lack of focus
  • Irritability
  • Depression
  • Chronic congestion
  • Skin rashes
  • Poor sleep
  • Muscle aches
  • Joint pain

 

Unlike food allergies which cause immediate onset of symptoms, symptoms of food sensitivities can be delayed by hours or even days. The wide variety of symptoms and the delay in symptoms presentation can make it very hard to make a connection between the food and the reaction. Because of this, many people who suffer symptoms caused by food sensitivities don’t realize that a food is to blame.

Uncovering hidden food sensitivities can often be a difficult task. Lab tests used to test for food sensitivities can be costly and often unreliable. Elimination and challenge diets are the gold standard for diagnosing foods sensitivities, but they can often be hard to follow and if done incorrectly can be hard to interpret.

To help you to determine if any of your symptoms are being caused by adverse reactions to foods, I am offering a four week elimination diet class beginning on Tuesday April 29th. This class will help you to successfully undertake a comprehensive elimination diet, determine which foods are causing your symptoms, and learn how to potentially decrease your food reactions and prevent new ones from developing.

The four week group program cost $195 and includes:

  1. Elimination Diet Program Binder with the detailed, instructions, recipes, tips, resources and tracking tools needed to be successful with the program.
  2. Access to an Online Group for participants only, moderated by Dr. Knight.
  3. Four Group Sessions held on Tuesday evenings at my office at 222 Saint John Street in Portland from 6:30 to 8pm:
  • April 29th: Getting Started
  • May 6th: Strategies for Successful Elimination
  • May 13th: How to challenge.
  • May 20th: Discoveries and life beyond the program.

To register or for more information call (207) 805-1129 or email [email protected]

Posted in class/event, food sensitivities

You Are What You and the 100 Trillion Bacteria in Your Gut Eat

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iStock_000014496302SmallWe have all heard the saying you are what you eat. While there is a lot of truth to that statement, it is becoming clear that it may need to be updated to “you are what you and your gut bacteria eat.” Research into the function of the 100 trillion bacteria that call our gastrointestinal tract home has been exploding over the past few years. We now know that they are not merely uninvited “house guests” but instead play active roles in our health as well as metabolic activity effecting our digestion, immune function, hormonal function and mood.

 

One area of research that has received much attention is the discovery that gut bacteria have an effect on the development of obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. People with higher levels of bacteria in the Firmicutes family and lower levels of bacteria in the Bacteroidetes family seem to be more likely to be obese and are at an increased risk of developing diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The increased risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome appears to not just be a result of the obesity, but instead is related to effects on inflammation and liver function. The increased weight gain is in part due to the fact that some bacteria in the Firmicutes family are very good at digesting starches and fibers that you can’t digest and converting them in to short chain fatty acids that the body can then use as energy. This ads to the net energy intake on a day to day basis and so you may be getting more “calories” out of your food than you think. The bacteria that do this are not pathogenic or “bad” bacteria. In fact some of them are strains of Lactobacillus bacteria usually thought of as being health promoting.

 

A study published in Biology Letters in January found that people living in northern climates, such as Maine, have higher levels of Firmicutes bacteria and lower levels of Bacteroidetes bacteria and that this correlates with the rates of obesity in the regions studied. From an evolutionary standpoint there is a benefit to this as an increase in energy production would increase the likelihood of survival through the cold harsh winter. Why this shift occurs is not known at this time. It may be that there is an environmental input such as temperature or amount of daylight that stimulates the growth of Firmicutes bacteria. It is known that dietary factors can have a large effect on the balance of Fimicutes and Bacteroidetes bacteria. A diet higher in fat and refined sugars will increase Firmicutes levels while a diet lower in fat and higher in plant polysaccharides (found in fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains), will increase the levels of Bacteroidetes bacteria. In general there does tend to be an increase in fat and sugar intake during winter and a decrease in fresh vegetable intake the further away from summer that we get.

 

A big pharma approach to this (and I’m sure some drug company is working on this) would be to design an antibiotic that kills only the Firmicutes bacteria and spares that Bacteroidetes bacteria. While this could have short term benefits, in the long term many of the Fimicutes bacteria have benefits and getting rid of them could lead to increases in allergies, depression, and inflammatory bowel disease to name but a few.

 

A better approach would be to eat a diet lower in saturated fat and sugar and eat more plant foods. In addition,a study published in the journal Chemico-Biological Interactions showed that a high intake of poly-phenols found in green tea, apples, and cider or wine vinegar preferentially increase the levels of Bacteroidetes bacteria. While Lactobacillus bacteria can have many benefits, it may also not make sense to supplement with them when levels are already high. Focusing on probiotics higher in Bifidobacteria (a member of the Bacteroidetes family) along with prebiotics and colonic foods that increase their levels may be more beneficial and less likely to negatively impact the Fimicutes/ Bacteroidetes balance.

 

You can find out what your ratio of Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes bacteria is by doing stool test that looks not only at this ratio but also uses DNA markers to determine the levels of various bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract. Having this information can help in determining dietary changes that will be helpful along with determining if probiotics are necessary and if so what type. If you are interested in finding out more about this test, or if you would like to have the test done, you can call my office at (207) 805-1129 or email me at [email protected]

Posted in Gastrointestinal Health, Gut Microbiota, Obesity

The Road to Health is Paved with Good Intestines #6: The Large Intestine and Its Microbial Inhabitants.

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iStock_000012048107Small-300x300In my last blog post, we made our way through the 22 feet of the small intestine. Once what has remained of our food completes that journey, it goes through a gate called the illeocecal valve and finds its way into the large intestine. The large intestine is only about 5 feet long but the diameter of the tube is quite a bit larger than that of the small intestine, thus its name.

By the time the food remains make it to the large intestine, our own digestion of it has completed. This does not mean that digestion is over though. The 5 pounds of bacteria that inhabit the large intestine are happy to feed upon whatever is left. They ferment carbohydrates that you were not able to digest and in doing so produce b-vitamins such as biotin, vitamin K, and short chain fatty acids that serve as an energy source not only for the cells of the intestine but for the rest of the body as well. Short chain fatty acids also help with the repair of cells in the large intestine and provide defense against colon cancer and inflammation in the large intestine. Read more »

Posted in Gastrointestinal Health

The Road to Health is Paved with Good Intestines #5: The Small Intestine

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iStock_000012048107Small-300x300When we last left the gastrointestinal tract we were in the stomach where stomach acid and enzymes in conjunction with the mechanical forces of the stomach’s muscles were breaking down our food into a liquid known as chyme. When the gate at the bottom of the stomach called the pyloric sphincter opens, the chyme leaves the stomach and begins travelling into the small intestine.

Despite its name, the small intestine is the longest part of the gastrointestinal tract with the average length of 22 feet. If this wasn’t big enough, if you were to pull it completely taught, the surface area would be the size of a tennis court. This is because the inner surface is shaped into a multitude of finger like projections called villi. When you look at it under a microscope it resembles the Down East coast of Maine. This giant surface area increases the nutrient absorption ability of the small intestine.

Before digestion and absorption can be completed more digestive enzymes and other chemicals are needed to continue breaking things down. Some of these enzymes are released directly by the cells of the lining of the small intestine. Others are released through a small connecting tube by the pancreas. Bile, released by the liver and stored in the gallbladder is squirted in to emulsify fats in a similar way to how dish detergent works to clean grease off of pans. Once the chyme is mixed is mixed with these enzymes and chemicals the carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals are then absorbed across the lining into the blood stream.

In addition to its functions of digestion and absorption, the small intestine houses 70% of your immune system and helps to distinguish between molecules you can absorb and friendly bacteria from non-digestible food particles and pathogenic organisms. More of your immune system is located in your gut than any organ in your body because it comes into contact with more foreign molecules and organisms than any other organ and the lining of the small intestine is only one cell thick.

When your gut immune system is working well it is able to handle the load that it is exposed to on a daily basis. However, a number of factors can cause it to become overwhelmed such as:

  • Eating food high in sugar and unhealthy fats
  • Eating a diet low in fiber
  • Incomplete digestion caused by low stomach acid or impaired digestive enzyme function.
  • Exposure to food allergens or environmental toxins
  • Excessive or chronic stress
  • Nutrient deficiencies
  • Viral, bacterial, or fungal infections.
  • Imbalances or overgrowth of normal gut microbes.

When the gut immune system becomes overwhelmed the single cell lining of the small intestine can become damaged leading to a leak in the barrier. This can allow semi digested food particles and bacterial toxins to cross the barrier leading to food allergies and inflammation. More and more evidence is linking inflammation and altered immune response in the gastrointestinal tract with chronic illnesses ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to heart disease to certain forms of cancer.

Luckily there are simple steps that you can take to help support a health small intestine and the gut immune system.

  • Eat a diet that contains optimal levels of nutrients to support the gut immune system including: vitamin A (green leafy vegetables, yellow and orange vegetables, fruits, egg yolks, and oily fish such as sardine), vitamin C (citrus fruit, blackberries, raspberries, kiwis, cruciferous vegetables, and sweet potatoes), zinc (pumpkin seeds, whole grains, and legumes), and fiber (fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds).
  • Consume foods high in glutamine. Glutamine is an amino acid that is used by the cells of the small intestine for fuel. Good food sources include: cabbage, spinach, fish, chicken, eggs, legumes, nuts, seeds, and parsley.
  • Eat healthy fats. Healthy fats can help to support proper immune function and reduce inflammation. Good food sources of fats include wild cold water fish (sardines, salmon, and anchovies), avocados, olive oil, walnuts, almonds, coconut oil, pumpkin seeds, flax oil, and flax seeds.
  • Maintain optimal levels of stomach acid. As mentioned in the last blog, stomach acid helps to destroy harmful bacteria, parasites, and viruses. By getting rid of them before they get to the small intestine it decreases the load that the gut immune system has to deal with.
  • Avoid food allergens and food sensitivities. Eating foods that you are allergic to or that you are sensitive to can over activate your gut immune system leading to further damage and inflammation. An allergy elimination diet can be helpful in identifying foods you are reacting to.
  • Reduce stress. Stress increases your inflammatory response and has a negative impact on the gut-immune system. Exercise, meditation, yoga, journaling, massage, and breathing exercises can all help reduce the stress response.

Anything that was not absorbed in the small intestine will continue its way down the gastrointestinal tract where it will serve as food for our gut bacteria and ultimately be excreted. In the next blog we will finish our journey through the gastrointestinal tract as we make our way through the large intestine and meet the trillions of bacteria that call it home.

Posted in Gastrointestinal Health
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