hol+ by Dr. Taz MD

[00:00:00] Before we start, I want you to know that I actually want to hear from you after this [00:00:05] episode. Message me on Instagram at Dr. Taz md and tell me your biggest [00:00:10] takeaway. That's how I build future episodes of Whole Plus Real Questions, [00:00:15] real struggles and real stories matter. Now, let's get into today's [00:00:20] conversation.
Your gut microbiome is one of the most powerful systems in your body [00:00:25] It influences your weight your hormones your energy even your mood And this [00:00:30] episode we'll look at the groundbreaking advances in gut research and what they mean for your health [00:00:35] today In 2014 I actually wrote this book the Belly Fix and talked [00:00:40] a lot about what it meant to have a healthy gut because a lot of my training was in Chinese [00:00:45] medicine Ayurvedic medicine along with of course traditional medicine and functional medicine and [00:00:50] all of these systems of medicine talked about the gut in some respect or the other
But the difference was [00:00:55] in Eastern medicine Most Eastern systems of medicine the gut is ground zero of your health And [00:01:00] it was true 5000 years ago and it's still true today And in 2014 we [00:01:05] were just starting to use the words microbiome gut health [00:01:10] and these things like keifer and kombucha and kitchery and all the things [00:01:15] that I was talking about back then were were very foreign honestly
People were just starting to wrap their [00:01:20] heads around this idea Well what happened with this book was that people that follow this plan [00:01:25] Did amazingly well They lost weight They talked about having incredible mental [00:01:30] clarity and so many other benefits And so it only reinforced this idea that the [00:01:35] gut is such a critical part of our health now
It's been almost a decade or so [00:01:40] later right? And there have been so many advances when it comes to the world [00:01:45] Of gut health the microbiome and what it means for so many other processes and systems of [00:01:50] the body In this next episode we are gonna break down the important elements of gut [00:01:55] health what a healthy microbiome really means for you and what the research is [00:02:00] saying when it comes to gut health
The microbiome And what it means for everything from [00:02:05] weight to depression to hormone health and so much more Alright let's get into it. I wanna [00:02:10] start with really talking about what Does a healthy gut look like? I feel like we're using the [00:02:15] word hashtag gut health and all these things over and over again but what do we mean?
What are [00:02:20] we talking about? There are a couple of critical elements to gut health and it's important for [00:02:25] all of us to be aware of them to start to have this conversation around a healthy gut [00:02:30] microbiome First let's define microbiome A microbiome is that sea that population of [00:02:35] bacteria swimming around in the gut all responsible
For different things [00:02:40] Think about a massive factory and everybody has a job One set of bacteria may [00:02:45] have a job for your metabolism another one for your hormones another one for your kidneys another one [00:02:50] for your blood sugar And I could go on And what we thought was just the gut microbiome we are [00:02:55] now understanding is not just limited to the gut
Your rectal [00:03:00] area your vagina your mouth your organs everything has a [00:03:05] microbiome But at the end of the day the gut is still ground zero for all the other [00:03:10] microbiomes in the body So for this conversation we're gonna talk about the gut microbiome [00:03:15] advances in the gut microbiome and what you really need to know
So we know the microbiome is a [00:03:20] critical element of health but the microbiome Which I'll keep referring to is [00:03:25] essential and dependent on a couple of other key gut functions The [00:03:30] first of which it really wants a healthy gut lining Now I've used this analogy [00:03:35] before but I wanna think about your gut starting at the mouth going all the way down [00:03:40] to the rectum and being one continuous massive organ
And in [00:03:45] Chinese medicine and older systems of medicine they actually threw the liver And the gallbladder into [00:03:50] this overall sort of analogy of gut health Right right? So all of it's the gut [00:03:55] and all of it has a microbiome but for it to function effectively you have to [00:04:00] have a healthy gut lining So it's this idea that the gut lining has to be [00:04:05] intact has to be nonpermeable and has to do what it's supposed to do in terms of [00:04:10] absorption volume amazing food
Then I know you guys are eating if that lining is [00:04:15] not intact and instead you have something that looks like someone like Punched holes through it right? I always talk [00:04:20] about maybe like a laundry bag or a trash bag where there's someone just punched a bunch of holes through [00:04:25] then you lose your nutrients and that in turn triggers something that we've talked about for a long period of [00:04:30] time called leaky gut which in turn sets the body up for inflammation
[00:04:35] Now conventional traditional medicine doesn't recognize leaky gut but we're splitting hairs [00:04:40] here guys because instead they want it to be called intestinal permeability [00:04:45] And each of us has a different level of intestinal permeability [00:04:50] Now if you're running a high stress life you're eating a lot of fast or ultra processed foods
If you're [00:04:55] on a lot of different medications or you're taking in things that are harming the gut [00:05:00] lining including alcohol or a lot of diet sodas or carbonated [00:05:05] beverages all of these can impact the integrity of that gut lining and lead to [00:05:10] leaky gut And leaky gut in turn triggers microbial [00:05:15] instability
So patients will come to me all the time and be like do I have sibo? Do I have [00:05:20] candida? You know what do I have? And the answer is we have to look at all of it because if we in [00:05:25] isolation treat SIBO or treat candida over here but don't [00:05:30] treat the entire gut holistically it's gonna come right back And we've seen that over and over [00:05:35] again
Sibo by the way is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth [00:05:40] is what we refer to as sibo And conventionally we treat SIBO with 14 days of [00:05:45] antibiotics called Xifaxan and it works But again if you don't heal the gut in its [00:05:50] totality then it will come right back and I've seen that in practice over and over again
So we need to [00:05:55] have not just a healthy gut microbiome but we have to have a healthy gut lining But [00:06:00] there's two other parts to this story as well You have to be able to digest the foods that you're [00:06:05] eating So having the right proportion of digestive enzymes and having enough [00:06:10] hydrochloric acid is important for a healthy gut and healthy gut microbiome as well[00:06:15]
One of the things that we see for people who are on a lot of medications or who've had a lot of procedures [00:06:20] or who are aging Right Their ability to produce digestive [00:06:25] enzymes and hydrochloric acid actually goes down So in [00:06:30] turn their ability to digest their foods even though their diets sometimes are like impeccable [00:06:35] is impaired
And that in turn triggers a shift in the microbiome So that's [00:06:40] another component of this healthy gut moving on from that what is the other critical piece of a healthy [00:06:45] gut? Well it's the ability to produce bile
That's right We [00:06:50] need the gallbladder The gallbladder produces bile emulsifies fats [00:06:55] helps to package them and sends them off to where they need to go go Without the right [00:07:00] production of bile what we see in turn is a lot of fat malabsorption [00:07:05] meaning you're spilling fat in your stool which in turn looks like issues with your hormones [00:07:10] and issues with your neurotransmitters including dopamine gaba and [00:07:15] serotonin which means you become hormonally depleted anxious depressed [00:07:20] all the things and it's all happening right here in the gut
So needless to [00:07:25] say understanding what is going on with the gut and how that influences the microbiome [00:07:30] is ground zero for health When I talk about any condition in the exam room [00:07:35] you find me winding my way back to the gut as a starting point And [00:07:40] oftentimes on those initial visits as we're trying to problem solve we often begin [00:07:45] with a gut protocol first
Now that you have a feeling for what the gut looks [00:07:50] like what's involved what the critical functions are let's dive deeper into [00:07:55] what's happened in the world of microbial research
I wanna talk about what's [00:08:00] happening both in the exam room and also what's happening in research A healthy [00:08:05] gut microbiome is so important for overall health and in the next few minutes we're [00:08:10] gonna connect how important a good gut microbiome is to many [00:08:15] other aspects of your health The research is Fascinating What we're seeing in the exam room [00:08:20] supports it It's still not yet quote unquote a standard of care but I'm so excited to share [00:08:25] some of this information with you
Now we've already reviewed what a healthy gut is right? You have to [00:08:30] have a good gut lining You have to have the right amount of enzymes You have to be able to produce [00:08:35] bile acid and of course you have to have the right bacteria All of this is sort of [00:08:40] dependent on the production of two Particular molecules
I could almost reduce [00:08:45] it down to having the right amount of butyrate Butyrate is produced from fat that helps to [00:08:50] balance all of this and having the right amount of something called beta glucuronidase [00:08:55] Beta glucuronidase is an enzyme that's responsible for taking things up that we [00:09:00] eat taking up our hormone metabolites our toxins recycling them and [00:09:05] moving them out of the body
But when beta glucuronidase is too high then it moves it [00:09:10] right back into the bloodstream So this balance of butyrate and beta glucuronidase [00:09:15] is kind of at the center of this tug and pull of what the gut microbiome is going to [00:09:20] do along with the other factors of gut health a healthy gut microbiome
[00:09:25] When butyrate is in the right place beta glucuronidase is in the right place is [00:09:30] composed of diverse bacteria In fact the more diversity The [00:09:35] better We want lots of different types of bacteria floating around in our body because [00:09:40] again remember they all have different functions So when we go and sample the gut [00:09:45] microbiome in practice right we have many different ways of doing that through stool test and breath test and [00:09:50] understanding what gut bacteria is doing
Here's what we like to see We [00:09:55] like to see a healthy population of lactobacillus bacteria bifidobacteria [00:10:00] ruminococcus bacteria from fiber bacillus bacteria that's been tied [00:10:05] to many different conditions and akkermansia which has been tied to blood sugar[00:10:10]
All these different strains of bacteria have different jobs but when they're in the right amount [00:10:15] they work to prevent things like inflammation Hormone imbalances mental [00:10:20] health disorders and so much more But when they're out of balance that's where we [00:10:25] start seeing expression of different diseases
I'm gonna break down for you [00:10:30] some of the connections that we have seen both in research And in the exam room [00:10:35] between gut bacteria and health let's go for it Let's start with the first one The [00:10:40] first one is the gut brain access right? So in this particular article it's talking [00:10:45] about how we understand that certain gut bacteria are responsible for [00:10:50] production of the neurotransmitters dopamine gaba serotonin and [00:10:55] even norepinephrine and epinephrine
Studies show that almost 90 to [00:11:00] 95% of your neurotransmitters are packaged and made in the gut So we [00:11:05] know that there's a huge connection between the gut and the brain and we've seen this over and over again in [00:11:10] practice This particular study from 2022 It says this the gut microbiome exerts a [00:11:15] considerable influence on human neurophysiology and mental health interactions between the [00:11:20] intestinal microbiology and the host system and it's played a [00:11:25] role in the development of psychiatric conditions and how effective [00:11:30] medication And therapy may actually be when we are treating a mental health [00:11:35] disorder like anxiety or depression you know or bipolar any of these things we're [00:11:40] not thinking about the shifts in gut health and the shifts in the microbiome
So if I [00:11:45] had my way when we did a holistic approach right to a mental health disorder we would [00:11:50] work on the microbial shifts the integrity of the gut While we also thought [00:11:55] about medication hormone balance and then uh other modalities like cognitive [00:12:00] behavioral therapy or therapy So again you know we kind of do a [00:12:05] disservice when we take just Hey just do this one thing and you're gonna be better
Now the gut has also [00:12:10] been implicated in inflammation In fact I often find myself saying the root of [00:12:15] inflammation is in the gut Here's an article again talking about this one's from 2023 [00:12:20] Talking about something that's fascinating It's called the Exposome Have you guys heard of that [00:12:25] before? The Exposome is actually the cumulative load of all the toxins [00:12:30] you've been exposed to and how that influences the microbiome
So here we're [00:12:35] talking about now the exosome which is the sum of human environmental exposures [00:12:40] including diet Drugs and toxins [00:12:45] impacting tissue homeostasis including what the intestines are gonna do and how [00:12:50] the gut lining will or will not stay intact Basically we're understanding that [00:12:55] the disruption of that gut lining from whatever your exposome looks [00:13:00] like is going to influence inflammation and inflammation at the end of the day [00:13:05] is the thing that is developing and driving
Tumors and [00:13:10] cancer in the body Again this article is from 2023 and really linking together [00:13:15] that cumulative load or the exposome with the microbiome with [00:13:20] inflammation and then how it might be linked to cancer Such an important connection and [00:13:25] one one reason especially as we see cancer rates go higher and higher that we really need to [00:13:30] be paying attention to gut health when it comes to inflammation
'cause inflammation [00:13:35] is the number one trigger for most chronic disease today All right There's the gut [00:13:40] inflammation connection Let's do one more The gut hormone connection All right Now this is a big one In [00:13:45] fact I had a diagram here I'm gonna show it to you You probably can't see it but we'll put it up there
This is the gut [00:13:50] hormone connection Essentially what's what they're showing here is that within the gut [00:13:55] have the microbiome It's responsible for having healthy bacteria Those [00:14:00] bacteria between butyrate and beta glucuronidase are responsible for taking up things [00:14:05] like estrogen and testosterone And what's actually happening in [00:14:10] perimenopause and menopause and many other hormone conditions even andropause in [00:14:15] men is that as the hormones decline the ability of this gut bacteria to stay [00:14:20] balanced goes down
And as that goes down What we then see is there's a lot more [00:14:25] recycling of hormones and dumping them back into the bloodstream or not excreting them the way [00:14:30] they need to be resulting in estrogen dominance androgen [00:14:35] dominance with declining levels of testosterone and estrogen So again we can [00:14:40] see how the gut is involved in this really important conversation and as women go into perimenopause [00:14:45] and menopause and men
Go into andropause The reason many of them are [00:14:50] having issues from mood to weight and so much more is because the gut is [00:14:55] not doing the job it was doing 'cause the hormone influence has changed over time So [00:15:00] again the interconnectedness of all this stuff is absolutely mind [00:15:05] blowing
So we've talked about the gut hormone connection We've talked about the gut inflammation [00:15:10] connection We've talked about the gut brain connection and what it means to have a healthy [00:15:15] gut and how to keep these different strains of bacteria Balanced Let's move [00:15:20] on and talk about a few other patterns that we really need to understand
When it comes to [00:15:25] gut health and a healthy microbiome one of the most exciting areas that we are [00:15:30] starting to understand when it comes to healthy microbiome and advances in the microbiome [00:15:35] is the connection to weight and metabolic health
One of the most exciting things when I wrote [00:15:40] the Belly Fix in 2014 was that when people did the plan they lost So much weight and [00:15:45] they didn't expect it and they had tried every other diet plan in the world Well as the [00:15:50] years have passed the connection between a healthy microbiome and your weight [00:15:55] continues to be very clear and in fact there's some exciting work being done
Really tying [00:16:00] if you could balance the microbiome in a particular way Could you finally lose that belly [00:16:05] fat and lose weight? Effectively the research continues to evolve but what we see in practice [00:16:10] are a number of patterns tying back to gut health and insulin regulation [00:16:15] and blood sugar balance Now the most known well-known pattern is a lack of a [00:16:20] bacteria called akkermansia
Akkermansia has been shown in research [00:16:25] and even in practice to really help with uptake of blood sugar Bringing insulin levels back [00:16:30] down and indirectly helping with the situation around weight Gut bacteria [00:16:35] are responsible for our metabolic rate and oftentimes I have patients that have done everything right
[00:16:40] They are you know doing the diet they're doing the exercise They are trying to figure [00:16:45] out why they simply cannot Lose weight Well when it comes to weight and weight loss I remind [00:16:50] everybody that the gut is a primary metabolic engine And if it's not working [00:16:55] well it is very difficult to lose weight
You often know that your gut's not working well with [00:17:00] obvious gut symptoms right? Reflux bloating trouble going to the bathroom But another way [00:17:05] to know that the gut's not doing well are symptoms that are more silent or more subtle [00:17:10] whether it's rashes or brain fog or simply feeling ill after eating or crashing [00:17:15] after eating
The connection between blood sugar and the microbiome is so strong [00:17:20] and it is so regulated by the food we consume but also by our stress levels and our [00:17:25] sleep and article after article keeps bringing this connection back into the [00:17:30] forefront So Akkermansia is one bacteria that we could take to help rebalance [00:17:35] this pattern but it's not enough to just do one particular bacteria
[00:17:40] There are a couple of other bacteria involved and they tie back to our diet For example ruminococcus [00:17:45] is a bacteria that's produced when we eat enough fiber If we're not eating enough fiber then [00:17:50] we see the population of Ruminococcus Ruminococcus get out of control and not be able to do the things it [00:17:55] needs to do
So fiber becomes very important When we're thinking about weight [00:18:00] loss and blood sugar regulation the other bacteria really involved in this weight equation [00:18:05] when we think about the microbiome is candida or an overgrowth of yeast in the gut Many [00:18:10] times when there's a lack of microbial diversity And what I mean by that is that we're either [00:18:15] not eating a variety of foods to give us different bacteria or we're not eating high [00:18:20] quality foods or there's been a shift downward for different
Reasons And one of [00:18:25] the reasons we know that we lack diversity sometimes is in a hormone condition like [00:18:30] andropause perimenopause or menopause where there's simply not as many good gut [00:18:35] bacteria as there were at one time and that in turn is a [00:18:40] primary driver For the weight gain that you see with hormone shifts
So for example [00:18:45] when hormones shift in these life stages or even with something like PCOS for example [00:18:50] then we know that there is a change in what's happening in gut bacteria And [00:18:55] what many researchers are trying to do is isolate If we gave you a particular [00:19:00] probiotic in your state in your hormone state would that shift you back to where [00:19:05] you used to be?
Or would giving you the right hormone shift you back to where you used to be? [00:19:10] But for people that are gaining weight and that are frustrated and not understanding the why [00:19:15] behind it a big part of the why is simply that they do not have the bacteria [00:19:20] that they once had and they have to work actively on repopulating it
[00:19:25] So there's definitely a connection between the two When I look at the studies and just review it they talk a lot about this [00:19:30] connection between the microbiome and metabolic syndrome and they're saying the interplay [00:19:35] of the microbiome with the host and your metabolic rate and includes many [00:19:40] factors including how effective your gut barrier is
How much bile [00:19:45] acid remember we talked about that you're secreting if you've been on excessive [00:19:50] antibiotics because that in turn makes candida worse and then what's happening with the different [00:19:55] metabolites that you're produ producing in addition to that diet and [00:20:00] circadian rhythm are influencing your gut health and your microbiome as well
[00:20:05] That's a more evolving area of research that I think is super fascinating that the circadian [00:20:10] rhythm meaning your sleep wake cycle right Determined so much Not just your [00:20:15] hormone rhythm because there's such a player there when it comes to your hormones Your circadian rhythm [00:20:20] is actually directly influencing your microbiome So if your [00:20:25] circadian rhythm is off maybe you travel a lot maybe you are in different time [00:20:30] zones maybe you're in night owl or you have erratic sleep schedules because of shift [00:20:35] work or so many different reasons or young children even
Part of the reason you're [00:20:40] having trouble with weight is because that gut bacteria is not stable It is [00:20:45] also shifting and actually becoming less and less diversified because [00:20:50] of the disruption in circadian rhythm All right Let's look at this article from also from [00:20:55] 2022 talking about what they are seeing when they look at circadian rhythms and the gut [00:21:00] microbiome
And what they're saying They're showing an increase in body weight when [00:21:05] is a decrease in what they're saying a regular consistent night schedule [00:21:10] It's saying the alterations in the expressions of these clock genes that's what they're causing It [00:21:15] is relevant for metabolic functioning and what they found was a bidirectional [00:21:20] relationship between the microbiome and your clock right?
So if you [00:21:25] are on a consistent sleep schedule Going to bed at the same time waking up at the same [00:21:30] time you'll have microbial regularity If you're somebody that's not sleeping [00:21:35] consistently because of travel or because of the other things that we've mentioned then you're going to have [00:21:40] issues with your microbiome
And that microbial disruption and turn [00:21:45] leads to weight gain And that's the connection that's really important to understand because I think one of the [00:21:50] things we're not doing in practice and that we need to start thinking about is
Kind of [00:21:55] profiling each of our patients right? Do I have a traveler?
Do I have a stressed mom? [00:22:00] Do I have somebody doing shift work? Do I have a night owl? And then helping each of you [00:22:05] move your sleep schedules to one that's realistic but then also [00:22:10] supporting that schedule so that you can maintain things like microbial regularity
And [00:22:15] hormone regularity as well and I think that's that's a really important piece of the puzzle There's been a lot [00:22:20] of discussion especially with the advent of GLP ones on the gut microbiome [00:22:25] the gut in general and insulin and metabolic rate and GLP ones [00:22:30] do help people lose weight The concern we have with long-term use of GLP [00:22:35] one medications in the context of a healthy gut microbiome is that we don't want to [00:22:40] disrupt the gut
And that is the biggest flaw of those medications that when they are [00:22:45] given at doses for a long period of time or you assume that you have to be on this [00:22:50] forever How are we impacting the gut microbiome over the long term [00:22:55] and making sure it's not moving in a direction For decreased diversification [00:23:00] decreased butyrate production and abnormal levels of something called beta [00:23:05] glucuronidase that drive the body towards a pro-inflammatory state a [00:23:10] hormone disrupted state and a state where metabolic syndrome is a [00:23:15] reality
This is what we need to be thinking about when we think about overall health and a holistic approach to [00:23:20] health We have to be thinking about how do we maintain a diverse Healthy [00:23:25] microbiome and that's what we're gonna do next Over the next few All right From gut brain to [00:23:30] gut hormone to gut inflammation to gut weight Four critical [00:23:35] ways that your microbiome is impacting your overall health We've talked about the [00:23:40] connections We've talked about the strains of bacteria involved and we've talked about the importance of a healthy gut [00:23:45] lining production of digestive enzymes
Bile acids and [00:23:50] even the bacteria that are acting together in concert and in balance [00:23:55] What we wanna do next is build a plan that works right? Build something that's realistic We can [00:24:00] get into the research and you can get into all the strains and sometimes it's so interesting from an [00:24:05] informational standpoint but it's not really practical from a day-to-day standpoint
It's part of why I [00:24:10] love merging the research With clinical practice because in practice we get to work with people [00:24:15] day in and day out at Whole Plus and get to see what works what doesn't work what is maybe too [00:24:20] academic and what really might be a solution for the future So here's what we have seen [00:24:25] work consistently over and over again maintaining a healthy [00:24:30] microbiome
One that is consistently stable and can withstand environmental [00:24:35] pressures hormone shifts and changes Life stressors no matter what they may be in [00:24:40] different stages of life is one that pays attention to those four critical components [00:24:45] The gut microbiome the gut lining digestive enzymes bile acid [00:24:50] production butyrate and beta glucuronidase right?
We wanna pay attention to all of that I always put [00:24:55] beta glucuronidase and butyrate is sort of subcategories of the four main ideas And the way [00:25:00] to go about doing that we have to talk about diet right? Because you can't I always say you can't out [00:25:05] supplement an unhealthy diet So we wanna start with diet and make sure you're doing [00:25:10] a couple of key things for a healthy gut when it comes to your diet
Number one is you're [00:25:15] removing processed and ultra processed foods right? Fast foods packaged foods [00:25:20] anything in a bag And the reason for that is the chemical load and toxin load in those foods [00:25:25] and sometimes the saturated fat load in those foods are affecting our four key [00:25:30] determinants of gut health and impacting butyrate and beta glucuronidase
So cleaning up the [00:25:35] diet starting small than big right? I always say start with lowering alcohol first [00:25:40] Lowering your consumption of sugar Trying to get that down to maybe one or two days a week [00:25:45] under four drinks of alcohol a week That's a great starting point If you don't know where to start then kind of [00:25:50] graduating out of that and moving to okay I'm gonna reduce other inflammatory foods [00:25:55] diminishing dairy diminishing gluten and then keeping animal protein down to [00:26:00] about four to six ounces a day is ideal
When we're talking about the gut microbiome [00:26:05] the next piece of this is preserving that gut lining by taking in something like [00:26:10] collagen right? You can do Collar glow There are so many different collagen products on the market but doing [00:26:15] a scoop of that a day can help preserve that gut lining as can one of my all time [00:26:20] favorites glutamine
And I usually recommend doing about two to three grams a day In addition to [00:26:25] that taking digestive enzymes and this is one I can't stress you know Over and over [00:26:30] again I find myself talking about this because remember digestive enzymes are going to prevent [00:26:35] that concept of fat malabsorption
So as your hormones change and your gut just kind of gets [00:26:40] sloppy and sluggish those enzymes are improving the efficiency of your digestion [00:26:45] and there's some enzymes that actually have oxil in them that actually also help With [00:26:50] sort of the gallbladder production and then helping to produce the bile that's needed [00:26:55] to package up and move your food in the right direction
So digestive enzymes become [00:27:00] critical hydrochloric acid becomes critical And then I start with a broad sort [00:27:05] of broad strained at least a hundred colony count probiotic that [00:27:10] can help to provide some diversification To gut We need a range of bacteria [00:27:15] in the gut to begin with until we can identify if there's one particular bacteria [00:27:20] that you're having trouble with
And when we take this initial approach we are [00:27:25] usually able to get the microbiome back in balance and subdue things like [00:27:30] candida or ruminococcus or streptococcus overgrowth that we see in [00:27:35] menopause We're able to bring those things down But if we're not Then we start to look for [00:27:40] strains of bacteria and this is where the research is headed where we can actually treat
So for [00:27:45] example we would take a stamp a sample of your stool We would evaluate it [00:27:50] and then we would be able to formulate and develop a probiotic or a [00:27:55] prebiotic or even a symbiotic that works with the deficiency to re [00:28:00] diversify and repopulate your gut bacteria Now repopulating the gut [00:28:05] bacteria can be done with taking probiotics
Probiotics do need to be high quality [00:28:10] They need to be vetted to make sure they are what they say they are because as they sit on a shelf they do [00:28:15] degrade over time That's why some people actually even prefer prebiotics which is the food that a [00:28:20] probiotic will feed on To have diversification but there are a lot of fun hacks [00:28:25] that you can bring in that actually help you to diversify your gut bacteria
[00:28:30] And this is bringing in those fermented foods right? Bringing in the yogurts the [00:28:35] keifers you know the kombuchas you know I Have fun making kombucha at one point [00:28:40] But those are things that do help to diversify that gut bacteria and make the [00:28:45] gut much more efficient so it can do what it needs to do with hormones inflammation weight your mood and [00:28:50] so much more
That's one way of adding diversification The other way is one that [00:28:55] I have to be honest even I have trouble with is switching up your foods Like changing up what you're [00:29:00] eating like not having the exact same breakfast every day and the exact same lunch every day [00:29:05] Kind of switching it up a little bit so that you're getting different bacteria from every different food [00:29:10] you're eating you know?
So that's another way of promoting diversification in the gut [00:29:15] And finally looking at your sleep Your stress and your hormones is a way [00:29:20] to get your gut bacteria back in line Remember this stuff is bi-directional One thing over [00:29:25] here is influencing another thing over here but when we're not sleeping as we've seen in the [00:29:30] studies with circadian rhythm or if we're excessively stress high cortisol will slow down gut [00:29:35] motility and change what the gut bacteria are actually doing
Then in turn we're [00:29:40] impacting the central idea Of gut diversification and those four critical [00:29:45] elements of the gut So that's another place where we can jump in This is why [00:29:50] acupuncture has been a game changer for the microbiome or something like consistent massage might [00:29:55] change the microbiome or getting off of night shifts can change your health completely [00:30:00] because it shifts the microbiome
We've even seen this with hormone replacement therapy so going [00:30:05] on a little bit of estrogen but making sure it's not getting recycled to cause estrogen [00:30:10] dominance Can help the gut bacteria So all of this stuff is interconnected [00:30:15] intertwined and you can be be actionable when it comes to [00:30:20] repopulating and diversifying your gut bacteria
And when it comes to the research there's so [00:30:25] many incredible advances In the microbiome and what the microbiome can and cannot do [00:30:30] But at the end of the day while research fights it out and tries to find the perfect strain for [00:30:35] the perfect condition I think it's our responsibility in what we do at Whole Plus to put the whole [00:30:40] picture together and understand that your gut is a massive system with a lot of different [00:30:45] parts and players and when they work together in harmony and in symphony [00:30:50] that's when you achieve your best health
I hope this episode gave you something valuable [00:30:55] to think about or to even try this week. If it did, please leave a short review on your [00:31:00] podcast app.
It really helps us grow the whole plus community and reach more people [00:31:05] who need to hear this message. You can also connect with me directly on Instagram at Dr. [00:31:10] TAs md. Send me a DM and tell me what you'd love to hear about next.