Category Archives: General Health

Stomach Acid is Good for You!

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.

How to Prevent Heartburn this Summer

Summer is a time for barbecues, picnics, and quick and easy meals. It can also be a time of increased heartburn. The term “heartburn” is a misnomer. The sensation of burning around the diaphragm has nothing to do with the heart. This sensation occurs when stomach acid moves up into the esophagus (it’s supposed to stay in the stomach!) This is a very common complaint in today’s society affecting over 60 million Americans.

For more about the importance of stomach acid and the actual causes of heartburn, see my previous post “Stomach Acid is Good for You!”

Here are a few tips to help you stay heartburn free this summer (or any time of the year.)

  • Don’t rush when you eat. By slowing down and eating in a more mindful way you will enhance your body’s digestive abilities and be less likely to overeat. Taking 5 deep breaths before eating can help to put your body in a more relaxed state, ready to digest.
  • Avoid trigger foods. If you are prone to heartburn avoid foods that may exacerbate it including fatty foods, coffee, chocolate, mint, sugar, alcohol, citrus fruits, spicy foods, and dairy products.
  • Wear loose-fitting clothes. Tight fitting clothes can place added pressure on the stomach and exacerbate heartburn.
  • Use digestive bitters. Combinations of bitter herbs have been used to aid digestion for centuries. Digestive bitter formulas can help to stimulate digestion and decrease the occurrence of heartburn when taken before the meal. The best results occur when the bitters are taken in a small amount of room temperature water, 10 to 15 minutes before the meal.  You can buy my favorite digestive bitters through the online dispensary Fullscript by clicking here.
  • Elevate your head when you sleep. Elevating the head of your bed by six inches can help gravity keep the acid in its place. Studies have shown that for those suffering from nighttime reflux, this simple solution can be more effective than antacids or acid suppressing medications.
  • Chew DGL tablets. If you do experience reflux, try chewing a couple deglycyrrhiziated licorice (DGL) tablets before reaching for the antacid. DGL helps to coat the esophagus and stop the burning sensation without suppressing acid production. For best results, the DGL tablets should be chewed well before swallowing. Chew two DGL tablets either right before or right after your meal.  If you experience nighttime heartburn, you can also chew two tablets before bed.  You can buy my favorite DGL through the online dispensary Fullscript by clicking here.

If after trying these solutions you are still experiencing heartburn, call to schedule an appointment with Dr. Knight to help determine the underlying causes of your heartburn so that you can get lasting relief without long term negative effects.

Cooling the Flames of Chronic Inflammation

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.
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  • 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.

Time for a Spring Cleanup!

If you think you may be carrying around a toxic burden, there is some good news. Making some simple diet and lifestyle changes can have a big impact on decreasing your exposure and increasing your body’s ability to mobilize and get rid of toxins.

 Several easy ways to increase your body’s natural elimination of toxins are:

  • Stay well hydrated: Drinking a minimum of 64oz of water a day is important for helping to flush toxins out through the kidneys.
  • Have regular bowel movements: One of the prime routes for toxins to leave our bodies is through the bowels. Constipation leads to impaired elimination and actually increases the reuptake of toxins from the gut. Staying well hydrated, getting regular exercise, and getting plenty of fiber in your diet can help make sure that you are having one to two bowel movements a day. If you are suffering from constipation, make an appointment with me today so that we can improve your elimination!
  • Exercise regularly: Moving your body helps to keep the lymph and circulation moving which helps to flush toxins out of your tissues.
  • Eat cruciferous vegetables: Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and kale have compounds in them that help to promote proper detoxification.
  • Drink green tea: Green tea contains compounds that help to mobilize toxins from fat and helps to make sure that those toxins get excreted in your stools. Two cups a day is a great place to start.
  • Eat more fiber: The consumption of both soluble and insoluble fibers have been shown to increase the excretion of numerous toxins In addition it helps to prevent constipation and can optimize your gut ecology.  Good sources of fiber include whole grains, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Several easy ways to minimize your toxic exposure are:

  • Avoid Fish High in Mercury: While the right fish can be a healthy part of the diet and a good source of omega-3 fatty acids the wrong fish can be a major source for the heavy metal mercury. Fish with the highest mercury levels include tuna, tilefish, swordfish, and sea bass. Alaskan salmon, sardines, shrimp, tilapia, soul, and haddock tend to be low in mercury. A pocket guide to mercury levels in fish can be downloaded at: www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/walletcard.PDF
  • Avoid Farm Raised Salmon: Farm raised salmon can be contaminated with high levels of PVBs, dioxins and chlorinated pesticides. If it doesn’t say that it is wild Pacific or Alaskan salmon don’t eat it! In general, if it is labeled as Atlantic salmon, it is farmed salmon.
  • Use a water filter in the kitchen and shower: City water supplies and well water are often contaminated with low levels of lead and other heavy metals, chlorine, as well as pesticide and other environmental toxin residues. In the shower, these toxins can become aerosolized and breathed in.
  • Eat organic foods: Our food supply is full of pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics. By choosing clean foods it helps to reduce our exposure to toxic compounds. The Environmental Working Groups Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists can be helpful in trying to determine what fruits and vegetables you should purchase organically. Because animals accumulate and concentrate the toxins that they are exposed to, I advise minimizing your intake of animal products and when you do eat them, make sure that they are organic. The Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists can be found here: EWG’s 2024 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce
  • Leave your shoes at the door: Shoes get covered with all of the pollutants outside and when worn inside track them all in increasing our exposure. This is particularly important in households with children who may be spending a lot of time on the floor. Skip the dry cleaning: The solvents used in dry cleaning are highly toxic and have been found to be elevated in homes for over 48 hours after the clothes were brought inside. A new process known as wet cleaning is far less toxic and works just as well. There are cleaners in most areas that offer this. If you do have clothes dry cleaned let them air out in the garage or outside for forty-eight hours before bringing them into the house.
  •  Don’t use nonstick pans: Nonstick pans give off a compound called Polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) which cause neurological and thyroid impairment and are associated with increased risk of ADHD and high cholesterol.
  • Fill your house with house plants: Plants in your house can help to clean the air of potentially harmful toxins.  According to research by NASA, the top plants for cleaning the air in your house include English ivy, philodendrons, spider plant, golden pothos, gerbera daisy, chrysanthemums, Boston fern, corn plant, dracaena, Ficus and rubber trees.

Following some of these recommendations will go a long way towards helping to decrease your toxic load. In addition, periodically embarking on a focused detoxification program can help give the liver a break and allow it to catch up on clearing your toxic load. In cases of more severely impaired detoxification or elevated toxic load, a more comprehensive detoxification program may be necessary. In addition, it is important to make sure that you are detoxifying at a rate that your body can handle to avoid a potential worsening of your symptoms.

To determine if you may have an increased toxic load, complete the Detoxification Questionnaire.

 Dr. Knight can help you to customize a safe and effective detoxification program that is appropriate for you. Call today for more information or to schedule an appointment to begin your journey to a cleaner you!

Are You Toxic?

If you breathe air, drink water, or eat food, the answer to this question is likely yes.

 It is an unfortunate fact that all of us have toxins in our bodies. A study by the Environmental working group tested individuals for 210 environmental toxins. The study subjects had on average 91 of the 210 toxic compounds in their bodies. They were found to have on average 53 compounds linked to increased cancer risk, 62 compounds known to be toxic to the nervous system, 55 compounds that are known to impair immune function, and 58 toxins known to be toxic to our hormonal systems.

Many of the chemicals tested are fat soluble. This means that they do not easily leave the body, but instead are stored in our fat tissue. Through exposures from our food, air, water and daily living, the levels of these toxins increase over time, leading to an increased toxic load.

While in some cases our bodies are able to deal with the toxic burden unaided, often times that is not the case. When this occurs, it can have damaging effects on our health causing symptoms such as fatigue, depression, memory problems, headaches, tremors and balance issues, weight gain or difficulty losing weight, and hormonal imbalances.

An increased toxic burden is associated with increased risk for allergies, asthma, diabetes, chemical sensitivities, fibromyalgia, autoimmune diseases, neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s, and certain cancers.

Luckily, by limiting further exposure, supporting the body’s ability to process and get rid of toxins, and helping to repair damage done by previous exposure it is possible to minimize the negative risks associated with our increased toxic burden and improve conditions that have been caused by our toxic burden. To find out if toxins or impaired detoxification may be contributing to your symptoms or preventing you from achieving optimal health complete the Detoxification Questionnaire or schedule an appointment with Dr. Knight.

Love Your Liver

Have you thanked your liver today?

Our livers are pretty amazing organs. One of their many roles is to metabolize compounds that can have toxic effects and convert them into a form that can be easily excreted from the body. Back in preindustrial days, these toxins mainly consisted of the breakdown products of hormones and neurotransmitters as well as naturally occurring toxic compounds in the foods that we ingest. Over the past 100 years they have had to rapidly adapt as our modern industrial society exposes us to more and more toxic compounds. The word “toxin” itself does not describe a specific class of compounds, but rather something that can cause harm to the body. More specifically, a toxin or toxic substance is a chemical or mixture that may injure or present an unreasonable risk of injury to the health of an exposed organism. Some examples of toxins include industrial chemicals and combustion pollutants, pesticides, toxic elements, food additives, plastic byproducts, metabolites of our own hormones and neurotransmitters, and pharmaceutical medications.

 To give the liver an even greater challenge, most toxins are fat soluble, which makes it harder for them to be excreted in the urine, sweat, and feces. It also makes it easier for them to find their way into our cells. In order to try to get rid of them, the liver (primarily) has a complex system of enzymes that help convert these fat-soluble compounds into water soluble compounds that can more easily be excreted. There is a great deal of genetic variability in how this system works. In some people this process occurs more slowly while in others it happens more quickly. This partially explains why one person can drink a cup of coffee in the morning and be up all night while the next person is not affected.

Most toxins have to go through a two-step process in order to be able to be excreted from the body. Our nutrition can have a big effect on how well this two-step process works. Certain foods and compounds slow parts of it down while others speed it up. When things are out of balance the process can go awry and even more damaging compounds can be produced.

By supporting the detoxification pathways with proper nutrition and focused nutritional supplementation, we can help to increase the efficiency and safety of how the body detoxifies compounds, helping to lower our overall toxic load and decreasing the potential damage to our health.

Achoo! Its Spring Allergy Season

Do you start sneezing every year when the trees begin to bloom?   Are you one of the thousands of people living in Southern Maine who suffer with seasonal allergies?

Seasonal allergies are a common occurrence with between 15 and 20 percent of the population experiencing some level of symptoms. Common symptoms of seasonal allergies include:

·        Sneezing

·        Runny Nose

·        Itchy nose, eyes, and/or throat

·        Fatigue

·        Headaches

·        Sinus congestions

·        Stuffy nose

  • Hives/ skin rashes

These symptoms occur when the body mistakes pollen for a foreign invader and launches an immune attack against it. Conventional treatment consists of using antihistamines, decongestants, nasal steroids, and allergy shots.  While these methods may be successful for some, they are not always effective and are not without side effects.

One theory behind why some people are affected more by seasonal allergies than others has to do with the total load on the immune system.  Think of your immune system as a kettle.  As the kettle fills up with more and more burdens it will eventually overflow and that is when you become symptomatic.

Unless you want to move or live in a bubble, there is little that can be done to avoid the exposure to pollen during the spring, summer, and fall.  However, many of the things that fill up our kettles are modifiable.  When we identify them and reduce their additive effect on the total load it can help to take some of the burden off the body and decrease your reactivity.

Dr. Knight’s approach to seasonal allergies includes identifying and modifying stressors on the immune system that we can control in order to decrease your sensitivity to seasonal pollens.  In addition, he recommends natural substances that can help reduce the allergic response and provide relief while you work on more sustainable long-term relief.

If you are tired of reaching for the tissue box, schedule an appointment with Dr. Knight and begin to enjoy spring in Maine without a stuffy nose.

An Apple a Day…

Ever wondered if there is any truth in that old saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”?

Apples from L to R: Grimes Golden, Baldwin, Black Oxford, and Esopus Spitzenburg

Turns out, there is!

In 2015 The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study looking to see if apple consumption was associated with fewer doctor’s visits.  While the study did not find a decrease in doctor’s visits in those who reported that they regularly consumed apples, it did find a significant decrease in prescription medication use in apple consumers.

While apple consumption may not be a panacea, it can be a delicious way to improve your health.  Consuming apples can  be beneficial for lowering cholesterol, decreasing inflammation, promoting weight loss, optimizing digestive function, protecting against lung and colon cancer, diversifying the microbiome and lowering asthma risk.

The health benefits of apples are thought to be due to the presence a high number of antioxidant compounds along with the fiber and pectin content.  Many of the antioxidant compounds in apples are found in highest concentrations in the skins, so for greatest benefit, do not peel them.

According to the Environmental Working Group, apples are among the 12 foods with the highest pesticide residues on them. Because of this, organic or minimally treated apples are best for individuals wanting to avoid pesticide associated health risks.  The skin contains the highest concentration of pesticide residue, so if left with no other option, peel nonorganic varieties.

There are many ways to enjoy apples, from eating them fresh off the tree, to making apple sauce, and apple pie.  Below is a recipe for a wheat free Caramelized Apple Pancake. Enjoy!

Caramelized Apple Pancake

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup plain soy, rice, or cow milk
  • 1 large egg lightly beaten
  • 3 Tbsp. grape seed, coconut, or canola oil
  • 1 cup oat flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
  • 2 large apples, cored and cut into ¼ inch thick slices
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • Zest of ½ a lemon and a splash of lemon juice
  • ½ cup walnuts chopped.

Preheat oven to 500.  In a medium bowl, combine milk, egg, 1 tbsp. maple syrup, and 1 tbsp. oil.  Add in flour, baking soda, and salt.  Stir until combined.  Heat a cast iron or other oven proof skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tbsp. oil.  Put apples in pan in single layer.  Allow to cook 4 minutes or until they begin to brown. Carefully flip apples and continue to cook until browned on second side.  Add 2 Tbsp. maple syrup, cinnamon, and walnuts.  Toss to just coat apples. Remove from heat. Using a pastry brush or piece of paper towel, coat sides of pan with oil.  Pour in batter.  Put in oven on middle rack. Reduce oven to 425 and cook for 12 minutes or until top is beginning to brown and the pancake is cooked. Slice into wedges and serve.

Davis MA, Bynum JP, Sirovich BE. Association between apple consumption and physician visits: appealing the conventional wisdom that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. JAMA Intern Med. 2015;175(5):777-783.

Can You Trust Your Supplements?

images35DGQ9E6If you are like more than 50% of Americans you took one or more dietary supplements today. The use of dietary supplements has been increasing over the past 20 years. What you once could only find in health food stores is now available in drug stores and grocery stores. It has even become common for conventionally trained medical doctors to recommend multivitamins, fish oil, probiotics and vitamin D. Most of the patients that I work with are taking multiple supplements before I start working with them.

While I recommend dietary supplements to many of my patients I do have concerns about the safety, interactions, and quality of dietary supplements. I will be addressing safety and interactions in future blogs, but in this blog I want to focus on quality issues with dietary supplements.

A quality evaluation by the company Consumer Labs found that 20% of the vitamin D products that they tested failed their quality testing. Two products contained almost twice as much vitamin D as was listed on the label, once product contained unacceptable levels of lead, and two products did not disintegrate within the expected 30 minutes.  A popular national grocery store chains  calcium with  vitamin D product  contained 175% of the amount of vitamin D on the label and still had not disintegrated after an hour. So while you might save a little money on buying the grocery store brand  calcium and vitamin D  if it doesn’t break down in your digestive tract you might as well be throwing your money away.

In another evaluation Consumer Labs found that 16 of 42 multivitamins tested either had less of a nutrient or nutrients than the label stated, had more of a nutrient or nutrient than the label stated, or didn’t dissolve under normal circumstances. While the benefits of taking a multivitamin can be debated, if you are taking a multivitamin it would be good to know that it contains the amounts listed on the label and also that it is going to dissolve in your stomach as opposed to in the sewer.

Several years ago an analysis of Ayurvedic herbal products purchased from health food stores in the Boston area found that over 20% of them contained dangerous levels of lead, mercury, and arsenic. While the amounts in a single pill were not enough to cause a problem, if you were taking them every day for months, the toxic exposure could begin to have serious health consequences.

A study done at my alma mater Bastyr University looking at the quality of probiotic supplements found that only one product out of twenty contained exactly what the label claimed it to contain.  30% of the products were contaminated with other organisms not listed on the label and 20% had no growth of any bacteria.

These examples unfortunately are just the tip of the iceberg. Other issues have included adulteration with anabolic steroids, high levels of toxic solvent residues, failure to contain the herb  species listed on the label, and inclusion of rancid oils.

While I have a great appreciation for dietary supplements, it has become clear to me that there is a great deal of variability in the quality of products sold as dietary supplements in the United States. While there has been an increased effort by the FDA to enforce basic quality standards, the supplement industry remains largely under regulated. The FDA does now require supplement companies to follow specific good manufacturing practices (GMP) in regards to the manufacturing of the product, but there is not the infrastructure to adequately enforce these and even if they did there is concern that the FDA standards may not be adequate enough to ensure that supplements are safe, free of contaminants and contain the substances that the label says that they do. The GMPs also don’t regulate the effectiveness of the product, the forms of the ingredients, where the herbs and nutraceuticals come from, or whether or not the additives or fillers used might have negative effects.

Fortunately there are some companies that have taken it upon themselves to make sure that they are producing high quality products. These companies not only follow the FDA regulations, they go beyond these standards to ensure that when you buy one of their products it contains the ingredients they say they do, in the amounts listed on the label and have been tested to make sure that they do not contain heavy metals, rancid oils, microbes, pesticide residues, solvents, or pharmaceutical drugs.

Buying dietary supplements through large online retailers can seem like a convenient and cost saving method.  Unfortunately there have been numerous recent  reports of counterfeit supplements being sold on Amazon including fake products made to look like products by the popular supplement companies NOW and Host Defense.

To make sure that my patients have access to high quality dietary supplements that they can trust I have partnered with the online dispensary Fullscript.  Fullscript carries supplements by companies that adhere to the highest quality standards and makes sure that the products products that have been meticulously selected and monitored, stored, and shipped with care.  For more information about Fullscript’s quality practices, click here.

If you have not yet signed up with Fullscript, click here to get started.

So the next time you are tempted to buy that cheap bottle of vitamins remember that you may be getting more (or far less) than you paid for!

The Garden Within

“The successful gardener has always known you don’t need to master the science of soil in order to nourish it. You just need to know what it likes to eat- basically organic matter- and how, in general, to align your interests with the interests of the microbes and the plants.  The gardener also discovers that, when pathogens or pests appear, chemical interventions “work”, that is, solve the immediate problem, but at a cost to the long-term health of the soil ad the whole garden.”  -Michael Pollan The New York Times May 19th, 2013

While this quote may seem like it is from an article about organic gardening, it is from an article entitled “Some of My Best Friends are Bacteria” in which author Michae Pollan compares the microflora of our gastrointestinal tract with the soil microbes of a garden.

As an avid gardener and as a naturopathic doctor with a strong interest in gastrointestinal health, this comparison is one that I frequently think about while I have been tending my garden beds this summer.

In gardening we learn that if we nourish and build good soil the plants will grow well, and we will have a good harvest year after year. Plants tend to be resilient to diseases, and pests are often controlled by the beneficial insects that are attracted to a healthy diverse garden. In industrial agriculture (as well as in many backyard gardens), the focus is on getting the plants to grow as quickly, uniformly, and in as high of a volume as possible.  The soil is depleted and does not contain the diversity of soil nutrients and microbes and so high levels of synthetic fertilizers must be given to the plants.  The plants are susceptible to many diseases and pests and so they have to be treated (or genetically modified) in order to survive.  This practice needs a high level of input, produces food deplete in nutrients and is not sustainable.

Our gastrointestinal tracts can be thought of in a similar way to the soil of the garden.  The trillions of bacteria that inhabit our intestines play an integral role in promoting the health of their host (us).  If we create an optimal environment for them to grown in, provide them with the nutrients that they need to survive, and ensure that we are growing a diverse population we will be rewarded with vitamins, decreased inflammation, optimal weight management, balanced immune function, and production of calming neurotransmitters to name but a few of the benefits. 

If we create a less hospitable environment by starving them of the nutrients they need, killing them off with antibiotics from varied sources, and live our lives in such a sterile way that we don’t allow for diversity in our gut microflora, we may end up with many negative health consequences including increased inflammation, obesity, diabetes, allergies, gastrointestinal illnesses and autoimmune diseases to name but a few.

Our knowledge of the importance and influence of our gut microflora is in its relative infancy.  While there is a great deal of research being done to learn more, we do not know enough to always have certainty as to what bacteria are “good”, what bacteria are “bad”, and what the effects of differences in the diversity of the bacteria may have on our health.

We do know enough to know that it is important to nurture and foster our garden within.  While it can be changed by external influences, the microbial community is relatively stabilized by the time we are three years old.  Exposure to bacteria through vaginal birth and breast feeding seems to have the major influence on how this community develops.  While we can’t go back and change what occurred before we were three, there are steps that you can take to “help your garden grow.

  • Eat food, mostly plants, not too much”.  While this quote is from an earlier Pollan work, In Defense of Food, its wisdom holds true for creating a healthy microflora population as well.  The fibers and other polysaccharides in plant foods serve as the prime food supply for our bacteria.  The parts of the plant foods that we can’t digest, our gut microbiome can.  People consuming a diet high in plant foods and lower in animal foods seem to have a greater biodiversity of gut bacteria.
  • Limit intake of processed foods. Processed foods tend to be void of the polysaccharides and fibers that feed our gut bacteria.  Foods high in refined carbohydrates and sugars seem to feed less beneficial species of bacteria as well as encouraging the overgrowth of yeast species.  Processed foods can also contain chemical compounds that can inhibit the growth of our gut bacteria and create a less hospitable environment for them to grow in.
  • Eat more fermented foods.  Naturally fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kim chi, yogurt, kefir, and kombucha contain beneficial bacterial species that can help colonize the intestines and promote the growth of the good bacteria already present.
  • Eat foods high in prebiotics that help to feed your gut bacteria including garlic, onions, leeks, Jerusalem artichokes, dandelion greens, asparagus, bananas, legumes, oats, and avocados.
  • Don’t eat on the run or when you are under stress.  Eating quickly or when you are stressed can decrease your ability to digest your food and can lead to overgrowth of potentially problematic gut bacteria.
  • Engage in stress reducing activities such as meditation, yoga, journaling, walking or exercise.  High levels of stress hormones can decrease the population of beneficial gut bacteria.
  • Consider taking prebiotic and probiotic supplements.  Prebiotic supplements can help to feed and diversify your microbiome. Probiotic supplements can help to modify the environment in your gastrointestinal tract to help to encourage the growth of a healthy microbiome.  You can find my recommendations for prebiotic and probiotic supplements for general health at Fullscript.
  • Go slow when introducing prebiotic foods and supplements.  Consuming large amounts of prebiotics can cause an increase in intestinal gas production.  To prevent this from happening, it is best to start with a small amount and gradually increase it.

If you would like to know more about the ecology of your gastrointestinal tract, there are stool tests that can identify the bacteria, yeasts, and parasites present.  Based on the results of these tests I can make more specific recommendation on how to optimize your “garden within.” 

For more information or to schedule an appointment call (207 805-1129) or email my office.

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