We’ve all heard the saying you are what you eat, but honestly, it’s actually more about what we can digest.
So how is your digestion?
Do you bloat after you eat or feel sluggish or maybe you feel me? Full and nauseated. when you barely eat much at all.
How about acid reflux? Is that driving you crazy or keeping you up at night? Do you get hiccups regularly or belt or have lots of gas? How about bowels are loose stools, a challenge, or maybe it’s the opposite and you’re struggling with some constipation. Do you have multiple food sensitivities and are they getting worse or do you get headaches or tired after you eat?
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s really important to pay attention to them. When your digestion is weak, even if your diet is top-notch squeaky clean and on-point, you aren’t getting a lot of the benefits from the food you’re eating.
If you’ve been diagnosed with IBS or IBD or celiac or Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis. Then you already know that your digestion needs your attention, but often. Even after a diagnosis, you’re sent home with very little information on how you can help yourself. So what can you do?
Let’s start with the basics – what is dysbiosis?
First. Let’s define dysbiosis.
Dysbiosis is an overgrowth of the bad bugs or the commensal organisms, or it’s simply an under-representation of the helpful or good bacteria. So sometimes we don’t have a massive overgrowth, we just don’t have enough of the good stuff.
What causes dysbiosis?
One of the main causes is a history of antibiotic use.
Antibiotics are truly amazing and they save so many lives. But for many, there have been times where you’ve been prescribed an antibiotic that you didn’t actually need perhaps for a virus or something that just, was going to need to run its course.
When I was a kid, they were practically given out at every doctor’s visit. Even the medical community didn’t understand how damaging it was to the good bacteria and we were just really excited about the benefits. You’ve also probably been in a situation where you really needed one and we’re all grateful to have them for those times.
And while that strong antibiotic did its job, it sometimes can take years to rebuild and restore the microbiome to a healthy state. There’s just no way around that. I know that may sound discouraging, but take heart. My friends, we are constantly doing the work of restoration in our lives and understanding how needed it may be for you or those you care for is really the first step in this battle.
Replenishing and Restoring the Gut
Well, first, first things first: you’ve got to remove the food triggers. That’s really important. Sugar, alcohol, processed foods, which is where we generally come into contact with things like rancid oils, MSG, food, additives, like food coloring and artificial flavorings, and preservatives.
All of these things feed the bad bugs and starve the good ones. So when we want to get well, They have to go. It’s like constantly adding fuel to a fire you are trying to put out.
It’s also very much about what you add. Choosing digestive, repairing herbs, foods, and probiotics is what can really do the work of repairing them.
They are a game changer.
I’ve talked about several of them in past episodes and on my social media. If you caught the episode or the blog post on the gut-brain connection, then you won’t be surprised that omega-threes are a big piece of the puzzle.
Omega 3’s
There is some accumulating evidence in studies that indicates that the connection between gut microbiota, omega-3 fatty acids, and immunity helps to maintain the intestinal wall integrity and interacts with host immune cells. Remember that the majority of the immune system is housed in our gut. And a weak intestinal wall is bad news for our immune system.
Both human and animal studies have highlighted the ability of omega-3 PUFAs to influence the gut–brain axis. By acting through gut microbiota composition, Omega 3 intake improves the variety of microbiota (the good bacteria) in our gut and allows us to make short chain fatty acids (which are essential for brain health!). Omega 3’s are also anti-inflammatory and nourishing which both aid in improving digestion.
We also know that diets low in omega-3 fatty acids is a risk factors for Intestinal Bowel Diseases like ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, even IBS. I love both ProOmega by Nordic Naturals (you’ll find it in my Fullscript account) and Nutragen’s fish oil – this one tastes great and you can get 20% off with my code Shelley20.
Let’s talk about some of the herbs that are incredibly helpful in healing the gut.
Turmeric
The more we learn about this long treasured herb, the more we understand why it’s been such a mainstay in Ayurvedic medicine.
Curcumin, the active ingredient in Turmeric, and its metabolites can have health benefits by eliminating intestinal microflora dysbiosis. In addition, curcumin undergoes enzymatic modifications by bacteria, forming pharmacologically more active metabolites than their parent, curcumin. {Ryszard Pluta, Sławomir Januszewski, and Marzena Ułamek-Koziol, Mutual Two-Way Interactions of Curcumin and Gut Microbiota, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7037549/# } in essence, the enzymes and the good bacteria kind of joined forces with the curcumin and they form a more pharmacologically, more active metabolite than their parent.
So as long as you have some healthy microbiota, curcumin actually becomes even stronger or more potent once it gets metabolized and improve healing in the gut.
There are actually some great studies that show that curcumin can help reduce the need for medications including cortisteriods for IBD. Which means yes, curcumin can be used in combination with meds. This is where its really helpful to have a qualified herbalist to help you and your Dr.
You want someone who can not only help you with navigating dosages, but what foods and other nutrients will be helpful to be included, etc. The goal is to do all we can to get the benefits from these medications when they are needed, but also reduce how long we need them and reduce the side effects while doing the work of healing and reducing inflammation throughout the body.
Boswellia
Boswellia is another fabulous Ayurvedic Herb, its also often called Indian Frankincense. Like Omega 3’s and Curcumin/Turmeric, it is anti-inflammatory. It’s important to note that it’s the resin in boswellia that is important for gut healing. Many people are fans of Frankincense Essential Oil, and while it is wonderful for other things, its not what we are talking about here.
has been used for centuries to treat symptoms that are consistent with Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s and other digestive disorders.
Obviously it wasn’t called ulcerative colitis thousands of years ago or Crohn’s disease or even IBS. But it is really interesting to note that in the records, going back thousands of years, we can see that as long as people have been around, digestive disorders have been around and Boswellia has been a powerful healer throughout the ages.
So here’s one study of 30 patients with chronic ulcerative colitis,
20 of them were given boswellia gum preparation and 10 were given the drug . As well. Yeah, we shown to be effective with your side effects. 14 of the 20 patients treated, went into remission and 18 out of 20 had improvement in one or more parameters, comparable to the drug, again, with none of the risks of that medication.
The typical therapeutic dose is 900 milligrams a day divided into three doses.
I have seen this resin make a tremendous difference in people who are really suffering. It’s worth noting that when we’re using herbs like boswellia and tumeric, it’s really important to take them with healthy fats.
When boswellia and tumeric were offered traditionally, they were served with either ghee, which is clarified butter or whole milk and honey because we want to create a situation where we are both nourishing the tissues and reducing inflammation without drying things out which would cause more problems.
Licorice
Now I’m not talking about the stuff that you’ve probably snacked on, not Twizzlers or black licorice chews.
I’m talking about is DGL.
DGL is deglycerolized licorice. You’ll often find it in health food stores and you can get it online. Most often DGL is used in chewable tablets. Occasionally you can find it as capsules.
They do taste a lot like licorice. They are, after all, licorice, of course. But you can also get them in other flavors like chocolate and vanilla. Licorice is well known as the harmonizing herb, its anti-inflammatory and helps other herbs work better together.
When it comes to soothing indigestion, you can take it up to four times a day. If you get super concentrated form, then you’ll want to take just take them twice a day, but either way, it is a wonderful helper when we are dealing with GI distress and a good one to know about.
There are so many herbs that I could talk about in this category: like Aloe vera, not the laxative, but distilled Aloe Vera can be really soothing to help line the gut. Also herbs like marshmallow root, chamomile, spearmint, berberine and of course peppermint. Peppermint is such a great go-to for indigestion. Sometimes something as simple as, a peppermint candy as you’re walking out of a restaurant after eating some really heavy foods and you’re starting to feel some discomfort, grab that peppermint and pop it in your mouth. I bet you’ll be surprised. It can be very, very soothing.
Peppermint tea is also a great way to go and you’ll find it in a lot of formulas.
Speaking of formulas, there is a fantastic German formula called Iberogast that I want to tell you about.
It’s a combination of nine herbs that together
- Accelerates gastric emptying
- Reduces pain and cramping
- Alleviates heartburn
- Relieves bloating and induces expulsion of gas from the intestines
- Clinically proven for treatment of IBS and Dyspepsia
So this particular product is a liquid extract, which I love, some people find it kind of strong tasting, but the dose is only 30 drops, not dropperfuls, just drops. And you can take it in a cup of water if you want to diffuse the taste. It’s been around since the 1960s, I believe maybe even earlier than that and the formula really hasn’t changed. Not only has it was stood the test of time. It now has some really solid studies showing that therapeutic use of it, often recommended three times a day, after each meal, over the course of a few weeks, it dramatically improves gut function reduces bloating, helps improve transit time, which reduces nausea and helps to begin the healing of the tissues.
This is a go-to product for me and for my family, when indigestion pops up after a meal it works quickly. It’s a wonderful thing to have on hand.
Zinc
I also want to highlight one nutrient: zinc, specifically zinc carnosine
Zinc has been found to be helpful in reducing diarrhea, improving weight gain, and reducing intestinal inflammation
It’s also been found to modify the epithelial barrier via effects on tight junctions. This is really important in diseases like Crohn’s, zinc has been found to be helpful in reducing diarrhea, improving weight gain, and reducing intestinal inflammation. – and something we want to be adding to our diets in an effort to prevent the gut lining from getting thinner.
Zinc carnosine is typically recommended for gut repair where zinc acetate is what we use for colds. and the dose is anywhere from 37.5 to 75 micrograms a day. Always take your zinc with food because it can be nauseating.
So if you are getting nauseated, when you’re taking a zinc supplement, even on an empty stomach, please reach out, I will help you find something that will work a little bit better. There are a couple in the market that are really showing up as great options for people who are super sensitive to that nausea.
Probiotics
Last but not least, lets talk probiotics.
Probiotics are the other big helper
I love fermented/probiotic foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt and kefir. And a healthy gut needs a big variety of those types of foods. Start slowly if you are just adding those to your diet and work up to several servings a day.
Many of the people I see in my practice come in with lots of food intolerances and severe digestive issues, so it can be hard to start with those probiotic foods, using a good quality probiotic can help heal things much more quickly and open the door to adding those types of foods to help keep things going in teh right direction.
Variety is key to a choosing a good probiotic, and spore based probiotics have some of the best research behind them for actually helping to heal those thinning walls of the gut and restore the immune system. The one I use most often is MegaSpore Biotic. You can get an over the counter version of it from Thrive Probiotics. Megaspore is stronger and is best used under the care of a provider who can help guide in dosing and trouble shooting. There are a few situations that adding a probiotic can make things worse. We haven’t talked about SIBO here or H.Pylori or certain histamine intolerances. I’ll save those for another time, but they need a more systematic approach that doesn’t include adding probiotics until other things have been addressed first.
I have some articles on the blog that talk about probiotics and probiotics. That is a topic that deserves its own article, so we’ll save it for another time. But know that they are huge players in healing the gut and really worth the effort of learning about which probiotics are best for your particular situation and using high quality products that have been 3rd party tested and verified to make it through the stomach acid and into the large intestine (this is often called enteric-ally coated)
As a side note, the only kefir on the market that has shown to have bacteria survive the stomach acid is Lifeway. Go for the lowest sugar or plain version and add your own fruit for best results. Pure cultured buttermilk is another good one – my fathers’s Swedish heritage meant that buttermilk was called on for all sorts of things that ailed us growing up (and it really did help!)
And last but not least, eating whole foods – green vegetables, resistant starches like cooked then cooled potatoes, green bananas and green beans are some of the best things you can do for your gut.
phew! I feel like I threw a lot at you. Remember that you can jump on my calendar if you’d like some personalized help and check out my Fullscript Account where I have many of the products I recommend at discounted prices.
I hope you found this helpful! Until next time – Be well