Leaky Colon and Digestive Health Insights

Well, hello everyone. Welcome back to our episode today on leaky colon. And I even have to admit that when I first saw leaky colon, I was like, wait, we've got leaky gut and now we have leaky colon. Sarah, what the heck? Yeah, it's not a typo. Leaky colon is different to leaky gut or similar and yet more disgusting. Oh, well, leaky gut has been getting a lot of airtime in recent years when but leaky colon does not get enough attention. And you'll find out in this episode what that is, what we're talking about and why it's important because as much as we, maybe it's not the nicest topic to talk about. Yes, the microbiome is exciting and sexy as far as like scientific knowledge goes. No one really wants to talk about, you know, Toilet habits and you know how well we are doing in that regard but it is so important and can be the difference between you know you setting up your body for like ongoing inflammation to you know detoxing it at your very best and so that's that's why it requires conversation and so in this episode you'll not only find out about leaky colon what it is what you can do about it why it's important. You'll also learn about transit time and you'll learn about transit time why that is important and not talked about enough as well as you know what to do the simple stuff what to do if you're constipated which a lot of us do have issues with that and it needs airtime and it needs solutions because if it's not just making you feel uncomfortable it's actually part of the disease process it can be. Yeah, like we were saying yesterday about inflammation, like how there's little spot fires in your body, you would say that our digestive health, and particularly toilet time, is one of those things where maybe things aren't quite right and you're like, well, I can just get on with my day and it's a bit awkward at times, but that's all it is. But these are actually massive, you would say, barometers of your digestive health, which has a huge connection to autoimmune conditions and the myriad of other conditions that are associated with that. This is really critically important. And I think the general public information like level very low would have no idea and just you know we just get along with it and and just hope it goes away at some point but i think we need to be more educated than that i think there needs to be more specific protocols and particularly people that are further along that spectrum than others so what can we do about it and i guess yeah what what are some other options yeah so i mean you'll learn in this episode lots of great tools and resources and protocols and suggestions throughout this entire episode from our wonderful experts. But for those of you who just love to go that little bit deeper or just want to spend more time on a topic than perhaps we can do in a docuseries where we're trying to cover all the tools at your disposal, we have As part of our platinum packages, something that we call our collections and so what we have is five different collections on five key topics that we found our audiences in the past have really wanted just a deep dive on and so we have vagus nerve function, we have more on leaky gut, we have sleep. Sleep is so important, doesn't get enough airtime, not enough people know about the tools available to them and we also have more on leaky gut and liver. and detox. So very, very, very important topics. And each one of those are led by a very respected doctor. We have Dr. Peter Bongiorno, who you see in the series, and also Dr. Louise Sayer. So both of those are giving presentations on each of those topics. We have recipe books and implementation guides along with those. So for those of us who are just a little bit more nerdy than the rest, myself included, I am all in it. I would say probably as well, maybe you're not even on the nerdy spectrum. you know, you're a nutritionist and I'm not. So I'm a little bit less. Yeah. You don't have to be degree qualified. No, no, no. And that's the point I'm making is that for the average, you would say punters like myself that also just wanted to know a little bit more about health. I think there's so many layers to this and you think, you know, going through a docuseries event is just like the tip of the iceberg. This is an incredible like. A thing to keep digging down deeper into and often obviously we can't cover everyone's ailment at once so I think having something where you can keep that journey going and you'll be surprised as you peel back that onion layer upon onion layer upon onion layer of how much this is all connected within our bodies and some of the most incredibly simple but yet powerful and effective protocols you can do to send your body in the right direction on its healing journey. Yes. So without further ado, we'll let you get back to episode five and learn about what we're talking about. Thank you, Colin, and much, much more. Enjoy. Hello and welcome back to the Gut Autoimmune Solution. I'm your host, Sarah Otto. In our previous episode, we delved deep into the world of chronic inflammation and its profound connection to autoimmune conditions. In this episode, we're turning our attention to another crucial aspect of gut health that's often overlooked, leaky colon. Leaky colon occurs when the barrier function of the large intestine specifically becomes compromised, triggering immune reactions and inflammation throughout the body. While it may not be the most glamorous topic, the health of our colon and the efficiency of our digestion play a vital role in our overall well-being and immune function. In this episode, we'll explore the importance of healthy bowel movements, uncover the hidden dangers of constipation, and discuss strategies for dealing with uncomfortable digestive issues like gas and bloating. We'll also dive into the power of certain foods and natural remedies that can support our well-being. optimal digestive function. Whether you're dealing with digestive discomfort, autoimmune symptoms, or you simply want to optimize your gut health, this episode is packed with practical information that could transform your approach to digestion and overall health. So get ready to uncover the secrets to a happy, healthy gut. Working as a clinician for over 24 years now is like, if someone's pooing three times a week, they're generally chronically unwell. autoimmunity is one of those things that might flow on from that might just be chronic fatigue or it could be allergies it could be food sensitivities all that tied into slow transit time because you're just absorbing things to that colon wall and i think that is an area that is under discussed when it comes to the the autoimmunity aspect of things but even in terms of our optimal health perspective is that yeah we've got leaky gut we've got dysbiosis but we also have transit time in the colon as the other huge um factor that can can essentially determine how much inflammation we're getting in our system and then again how that interact with our genes will determine how that manifests with those people. So many would be familiar with the concept of leaky gut, which when we say that term, we're generally referring to a leaky small intestine. But there's also what I refer to as leaky colon or leaky large intestine, which I think gets less coverage and discussion, but is also pivotal when it comes to optimal health, but also related to autoimmunity as well. And this relates to one, levels of inflammation that actually are in the colon, but two is how quickly things move. through the colon. And through the small intestine, I suppose one of the lucky things there is things generally move through quickly. Yeah, so things move generally from mouth to the first bit of your colon in about 90 minutes. Now what happens from the first bit of your colon to the last bit of your colon when it reaches the toilet bowl, that can vary from four hours in extreme ends to 25 days on the other extreme end. And those are people that I've worked with in my clinical practice where the shortest transit time I've seen is four hours after eating something that's in the toilet bowl. the slowest i've seen is 25 days for that food they ate to actually appear on the other end yeah and and the longer it's in there for the longer there is time for that absorption of of bacterial toxins like endotoxins um environmental toxins uh compounds your body's trying to get rid of because one of the main ways your body is getting rid of toxins from that we get from the environment or even dealing with excess hormones for example is supposed to come out through our poop and we're supposed to to actually poo that out but when we don't Those things get reabsorbed. So when somebody has chronic constipation, you do have to look at their diet to see that they're getting enough food, enough vegetables, enough healthy fat. These are pretty important for proper bowel function. Fat and fiber and water really have a lot to do with creating the right contents for a bowel. But a big, big reason I see people with constipation is, yes, I see things, lack of enzymes, food allergies, lack of probiotics. I see that. But what's very common is undiagnosed thyroid dysfunction. Your thyroid profoundly impacts the motility of your bowels. And when you see somebody like that that has thyroid-type symptoms, weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, losing their hair, losing their eyebrows, swelling in their neck, cold all the time, depression. I think that you have to properly evaluate the thyroid because that's a major player in bowel function. Well, the way I do bowel transit time assessment in my patient is very low tech. You can go into hospital settings and ingest radioactive probes and they will measure it as they make their way all through your gut. You can do it by a smart pill in some centers in Europe and US where you can swallow a pill and it will measure its transit through your gut. But again, it's not easily available or cheaply available to everyone. Whereas you can get your patients to eat. or you can do this yourself. Eat some corn on the cob or some canned corn. Eat some black quinoa or red quinoa or sometimes black sesame seeds or white sesame seeds. Something that you can easily see in your poo. Most people will know that when they've eaten corn, they've seen, oh, I've seen poo when I've eaten corn. Yeah, those foods I think are pretty good for this. Some foods are less good, like beets or beetroot. Yeah, it makes your poo purple, but beets actually speed up your transit time. So you get an artificially quick answer to what the result would be. Then you have charcoal. People could do charcoal capsules, which makes their poo go black. Again, easy to see, but charcoal slows down your gut, so you get an artificially slow response. And a third option, which I'm not particularly comfortable with myself, is a blue food dye. So there are people who do the blue poo challenge, where they're ingesting a synthetic blue food dye and a baked muffin, for example, then again, just keeping tabs on exactly how long it takes to go from mouth to toilet bowl. And there's two aspects to this test. If you want to see when it first comes out, you can see right down, 6.15 PM, I ate this corn. you know, and then you will see when you first see it in your poo and when you finish seeing it too, because for some people that'll come out the next movement, but then keep coming up for days and other people, it will come out, not the next movement, but the one after that, or the one after that, but actually up to weeks later. Yeah. And I think my champion slow pooer was 25 days. Now she was emptying her bowels every two or three days. So I knew by default that her bowels were slow, but she wasn't just pooing once every 25 days. It was, you know, every two or three days. So I knew it was gonna be slow. I just was not expecting. 25 days. And I also had a case earlier in my practice life that illustrated to me the importance of doing the bowel transit time assessment because it's cheap. It doesn't cost anything. It's easy to do. So I now do it with every single patient I see. It was illustrated by this patient that was never constipated, never missed a day, always did what people would call the perfect poo first thing in the morning every day. We did the transit time test for her. It was 10 days before she saw the first bit of corn come out. 10 days. If I just looked at, okay, you're pooing every day and you've got like a nice soft log that you're passing easily, your bile must be working fine. I would have completely missed the fact that she actually had 10 days worth of poo backed up in there that she's actually absorbing toxins and other products, you know, inflammatory products through. So I think this is an essential test that we need to do in all of our patients, even if they are apparently pooing normally from a medical perspective, it's really important that we check that. Now, when patients are pooing every two days and doing hard rock-like pellets. We know it's going to be slow, but I think it's really important to get an idea of how slow that is, because we know that delving into research more, a really important factor to determining how optimal health, but disease risk as well, and how much the microbiome composition is contributing to your inflammatory load or your disease process depends upon how much of those toxins you're absorbing. And that is dependent on, yes, small bowel leakiness, sure, but how slowly things move through the colon as well. And it goes back to, I mean, you know. Hippocrates, you said that, you know, death sits in the bowels or all disease is caused by, you know, poor digestion. And I would actually agree that, you know, I might go, you know, poor gastrointestinal function is the root cause of all disease. And I would say that the science is actually backing that up now between the microbiota composition, leaky gut and gut transit time. Those things are pivotal to determining what our inflammatory load is like. The type four is on the Bristol stool. And if I would have done in the past, then, okay, you must be fine. You know. And it's just like, no, I mean, she had fatigue and she had brain fog and she was unwell. You know, there was definitely things going on, but you're trying to always find the cause is why is this person experiencing those symptoms? And that's why we have to kind of assess those things. And obviously I look at the gut, I look at the world through a gut lens. So I was going, okay, how is leaky gut, potential leaky gut, potential dysbiosis or potential slow transit time contributing to your disease process? Because to me, those things are key and you cannot be healthy. if any of those three things are not in an ideal zone. You might be symptom-free for a while, or might have low-grade chronic symptoms, yes, but I don't think you're going to be ultimately healthy. So the Bristol stool chart was developed by a professor and his students, and they all started looking at, I think they were in the UK, and they started looking at their poops and recording what they looked like. And... I think we've all experienced all these different stages that are there. So a normal stool, when it comes out of us, should come pretty quickly, and it looks kind of like a brown banana. And sometimes they can be quite long, and you can even see, like, the shape of your colon in them because they have these bends because that's how they came. And... That's kind of a perfect poo and usually you sit down on the toilet and within a minute you're done. Um, so that's kind of perfect. Then we all have had really loose stools, or we've had really diarrhea that's watery, right? And so you can see those on the Bristol stool chart, where you have a poo that just falls completely apart as soon as it hits the toilet bowl, or, or you've got the runs, which is really liquid, which can dehydrate you very quickly. And Usually when we have the runs, it's our body saying, I'm trying to get rid of this really fast because I don't want this to stay in my body. On the other hand, we have people who are chronically constipated and what their poos look like is more like rabbit poo. It's like little balls. And so when it comes out in little balls, you are not well hydrated. You don't have enough fiber. And maybe you need more magnesium. as well. Or maybe you have a poo that looks like it's all balls kind of put together, and you can see that. And so all of these are on the Bristol stool chart. And what you're really looking for is kind of that ideal, easy brown banana that comes out of you. You also want to look at your poop sometimes to see what's in them. So first of all, people often would tell me that they see undigested food in their in their stool, which may indicate a need for digestive enzymes or slowing down and chewing better when you're eating. So there are just some ways kind of using the Bristol stool chart and then also using your bowel transit time to give you an idea of how healthy your bowels are and how you're moving food through this process of digestion. So in those patients that do have slow transit time, it's trying to work out why that's the case. For some, it is simple. And I think it comes back to what I call FEF. So it's like fiber, exercise, and fluid. If you're not drinking enough fluid, that can slow down your bowels. If you're not eating enough fiber, it can slow down your bowels. If you're not exercising, it can slow down your bowels. So that was one of the things that came through in my original naturopathic training, and I still go back to that as a basis, is FEF. What are those things looking like? And for a lot of people, you change those things, and all of a sudden their bowel starts working great. But it's certainly not that easy in everybody. In fact, there's some people in which increasing fiber worsens the cost of patients and slows things down even more. And this used to spin me out as a practitioner 20 years ago. It'd be like, what's going on here? Why? It doesn't make any sense. And it was only when some research was done in California around the role of methane gas and gut transit that it came really became more noted, but okay, what's going on here? Is that fiber is being fermented, it's increasing hydrogen gas, and there's a microbe in your gut that most of us have, but some of us have too much of. called methenobevibacter, or it's a methane-producing microbe, but it eats hydrogen gas, and it converts the hydrogen through to methane, and methane slows down your gut. So this is totally explained why in some of these people, the FEF approach didn't work, is the more fiber, they get more constipated. It's like, okay, well, you're feeding methane-producing bacteria. So I think always go back to the basics of making sure fiber fluid exercise, for sure. But there's going to be percentage of people that have a methane overgrowth, and that's something we can just... discern generally one of two ways, most accurately via breath testing, and that would be the sort of more traditional SIBO type breath testing where you're using the lactulose as a substrate, I think is probably best to looking specifically for methane status. But then you can also look at the ecosystem composition to go, okay, do you have methenybrovibacter present? If so, how much? When it comes to trying to speed up transit time, it's looking at whether methane is playing a role or not. And I think when they're But when it is, there's a subset of patients where methane is key, in which case we focus on decreasing methane. And that would include a probiotic like lactobacillus reuteri DSM-17938, very catchy name, I know, found in bio-gym, that's been shown to decrease methane output. And there's clinical trials showing that it speeds up transit time and softens stool. So we can see how it's working in that situation. There's a prebiotic fiber called partially hydrolyzed guar gum, which is a somewhat unique prebiotic fiber because it actually targets your beet rate producing species. And it also has like a bowel normalizing effect in most patients, and it can decrease methane in patients as well. So we might use that. And we'll often use herbs as well that are actually antimicrobial against that methane producing microbe. According to government and Haynes research, somewhere about 60 to 70% of us are magnesium insufficient. And we get magnesium again in whole grains and green leafy vegetables. And so taking a magnesium supplement has been one of the best ways that I've seen for people who are really constipated to become less constipated. So I would recommend taking a little bit of magnesium at night before you go to sleep because magnesium will also relax your muscles and relax you so that you can fall asleep more easily. I do that every night. Just take a couple hundred milligrams of magnesium. And I will sometimes have people taking magnesium to what we call bowel tolerance until they get really soft stools and then back off. I was working with somebody a long time ago who was so constipated and we had tried liquids and she exercised well and she was getting plenty of fiber in her diet. And I said, well, let's try some magnesium. And the RDA for it is about 400 milligrams. She got up to... 3,500 milligrams before she started having normal bowel movements. So I added a supplement for her called choline citrate and had her take a couple tablespoons of that once a day in liquid. And immediately her needs dropped to about a thousand milligrams a day. So that's been miraculous for so many people that I've worked with. So magnesium deficiency is unfortunately a pretty common phenomenon and leads to one of the most... common issues that people suffer from, constipation. And again, magnesium can be sourced from food and that can be anything from pumpkin seeds to chia seeds to almonds and spinach, but people are deficient and a lot of it comes from our poorly sourced food. So even though you may be thinking that you're having a diverse diet, a lot of us need to stop and check for vitamins such as magnesium because of where our food comes from. One of the most important factors in having nutritious food is having nutritious soil. And we know that in America, there is a really big issue with farming and pesticides and chemicals and farming techniques that are using the same crop. in the same place over and over and using things like genetically modified foods. So we have a real issue with having nutritionally depleted foods. You know, you might not even be thinking of having a magnesium deficiency, but it is so important, especially if you are suffering from things like constipation, autoimmune disease, to again, get a full... micronutrient panel and really see what's going on because you really may be surprised. Magnesium helps draw water into the bowel. So it just helps ease things along. Magnesium is just one of those supplements that can just bring about some relief. It's taken before bed. Magnesium citrate is typically the form that I'll recommend specifically for constipation and bowel issues. There's a lot of forms of magnesium. I work with most of them. I really like magnesium glycinate, magnesium threonate. Magnesium glycinate and threonate both work really well for anxiety. They work well for pain. And when someone that's in an autoimmune state, that pain factor is a big conversation. So magnesium glycinate and magnesium threonate can provide some relief for that pain because magnesium helps soothe the tendons and the muscles. It's relaxing to the muscle tissue. And so that's where magnesium can really provide some benefit. And magnesium is supportive and balancing to the immune system. So anybody that's experiencing any kind of immune imbalance, magnesium might be a deficiency that needs to be checked. And it can be easily checked on a blood test. Even your primary care physician could run a magnesium test to see if you're low. We have a variety of ways to run magnesium levels as well. But common deficiencies with magnesium, the symptoms we might see twitching. We might see, you know, you may get little twitches maybe in your eyes. That's a common factor with a magnesium deficiency, maybe heart palpitations. Someone might not be sleeping as well. So when we apply magnesium, The form depends on what's going on. So one of the other reasons that people may be deficient in magnesium is because something is impeding the absorption of magnesium. And this is really important to think about because it is so prevalent in our society. And that's taking acid-reducing medication. When you reduce the amount of acid in your stomach, such as by taking proton pump inhibitors like Nexium or taking excessive amounts of histamine to receptor blockers such as pepcid or ranitidine or famotidine, then you're depleting the acid in your stomach that is necessary to help break down and absorb many nutrients. And again, the most famous being magnesium, iron, B12, and calcium. So of course, I have a lot of patients coming to see me in practice who have been stuck on these medications for so long. And so one of the... first things I do other than getting them off the medication and helping them understand the root cause for their acid reflux and the reason that they're on the medication is check their magnesium and check the rest of their micronutrients. And these patients have such transformations in their symptoms when you replete and optimize their levels of magnesium. So for example, I had one patient who was on PPIs. for years. It probably was something like 20 years because there's so many doctors where when you call them and you tell them that you have acid reflux, they're like, okay, start your Nexium 40. And that's it. And then you just keep taking it your whole life because it does help. It's a great band-aid, but you never think to stop it and no one gives you any guidance. So this person was on PPI for so long that when we checked... their magnesium. It was in the 0.5 or less range. It was almost undetectable. Their iron, their ferritin stores were something like five, and they actually even needed iron transfusions just from being on PPIs. But one thing that was very clear was that they were suffering from constipation and stagnation. And constipation in your gut, although it's so common, but it's not something that anyone should shrug off because constipation and stagnation leads to overgrowth it leads to dysbiosis and in fact it can even lead to inflammation there's even a condition called stair girl colitis which is colitis because of the pressure that constipation and impacted stool causes on the gut wall specifically the colonic wall So this patient, when they were found to be depleted in magnesium and in the other micronutrients, and we worked to get them off the root cause of why they were depleted and then optimize the levels. So when they were able to replace their magnesium and their iron stores, not only did their bowel movements drastically improve and become effortless, which is always the goal, but they were enjoying. newfound energy that let them lead a more enriching life. For someone that is having issues with constipation, magnesium can be beneficial. And I say short term, but it's a good intervention while we're resolving the reason for the constipation because it does draw water into the bowel. Typically, what I recommend is 200 to 400 max of magnesium. You can take it an hour or so before bed, and it helps with that morning bowel movement. So Magnesium citrate would be the form that one would take. It's usually the one that does create the loosening of the bowel. So I'm always careful with someone that doesn't have constipation. We're really careful with the magnesium form that we use because magnesium glycinate and magnesium threonate tend to not have that same activity in the bowel. It's really that magnesium citrate that tends to bring the best results for constipation. Behind the bathroom door lies a wealth of information about our health. Our exploration of bowel regularity has shed light on its critical role in maintaining overall wellness. We've learned that everything from transit time to stool consistency can offer valuable insights into our digestive health, nutrient absorption and even our immune function. But for many of us, achieving optimal bowel function isn't always smooth sailing. Even if we're having regular bowel movements, other digestive issues can still plague us and impact our quality of life. So, what about those uncomfortable and often embarrassing symptoms that many of us struggle with? What can we do when gas and bloating become a daily battle? Coming up, we'll dive into these common yet troublesome digestive issues. We'll explore what causes excessive gas and bloating, how they might be connected to underlying gut imbalances, and most importantly, what you can do to find relief. Stay tuned as our experts share their insights on tackling these pesky symptoms. Whether you're dealing with occasional discomfort or chronic issues, the next section could provide you with valuable strategies to improve your digestive comfort and overall gut health. So I'll tell you a story. An old friend called me recently and she said, I'm miserable. I need a referral to somebody in my town. I said, well, what's going on? And so she tells me that she's had irritable bowel syndrome for the last 15 years or so, and that she does feel by the end of every day that she's just about six months pregnant and she's miserable and she can't really leave the house in the morning. because she doesn't know how many times she's going to have bowel movements, and they're often loose. And that's been going on for a very long time. But she and her husband went on a trip with some friends, and she got food poisoning. And she was miserable. She was just having chronic diarrhea, and she didn't know what to do. And so She had just seen her doctor that morning who'd put her on an antibiotic, and I said, well, that's really great because this is one of the antibiotics that is sometimes used for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which I think you have because you have so much bloating. And I said, but let's add a low FODMAP diet and see how you do. So I gave her the recommendation, and there's a specific app that you can put on your phone. from the University of Monash. I think it costs about five dollars and she put it on her phone and it gives you kind of red, green, yellow for every single food so that you can really look at it and say, oh I can eat this food as much as I want or I can only have four almonds because they're too high in these prebiotics. So she goes on the diet and within about a week she's starting to feel amazingly better. She's on the antibiotics for 10 days. About three weeks in, she's just starting to feel really great. And I said, okay, now it's time, let's add some herbs. And so we added some herbs that had berberine and garlic and oil of oregano and thyme oil and some other different aromatic oils. And we added these to what she was doing every day. And that, along with the diet, started changing her life dramatically. Her husband got on the call with us one day. He goes, you know, we always get up really early, and we like to go for a walk in the morning, but usually she can't even leave the house till about 11 because she doesn't know what's going on with her bowels. And now we just get up around 7 o'clock. We immediately can go out for a long walk and just start our day. You have no idea what's... what this has done for our lives, for her lifestyle, plus she feels so much better. So what we see in practice is that, for example, with somebody with irritable bowel syndrome, which affects about 12 to 15% of the population and looks like gas and bloating and either constipation or diarrhea or alternating diarrhea and constipation, that people with IBS most typically have... a slow-growing infection in their small intestines or in their large intestines, which causes that gas and bloating. So if you're somebody who really needs to loosen your pants at the end of the day, or you feel like, as somebody recently told me, she goes, I just feel like I'm pregnant all the time, especially later in the day. I've got a big belly. Then you start thinking, huh? Somebody has what we call dysbiosis. They have either small intestinal fungal overgrowth or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth that's just kind of slow growing. It makes them uncomfortable and not feel right. But, you know, how most physicians will kind of approach this is, well, just eat more fiber. Well, a lot of times that just causes more gas and bloating in some people. And so what we know is that we can use diet, diets that will actually help to cure this infection, along with their drugs like rifaximin that will also you can use, or their herbs like oil of oregano or berberine or garlic, which will help to bring this kind of slow-growing infection under control. So people who are more... prone to gas and bloating. You got to look for food allergies. You have to try to work on their enzyme and probiotic balance, but usually you're dealing with somebody who has some type of bacterial overgrowth in the gut. So yeast can cause it too, but bacteria will really make you bloated and gassy. I don't think I would just approach one of those things. I think I'd approach all. A, identify the foods that are the culprit. B, take a look at getting the enzyme and probiotic production more balanced. But you've got to get rid of the bad bugs. That's where cleanse is designed for dysbiosis can be really effective. When digestion's working right, we just don't really notice it at all. So if you're having any discomfort in your stomach, or you're having constipation or diarrhea or lots of gas and bloating, that discomfort is telling you something is wrong. And especially with gas and bloating, it tells you that your microbiome is out of balance. Because cells don't produce gas, only microbes produce gas. And so when we've got a lot of gas... Then it says, hmm, your microbes are fermenting what you're eating and they're causing gas. And that could be due to a bacterial infection, a fungal infection, a parasitic infection. So healthy digestion feels like nothing. You know, you just don't even notice your digestive system at all. And... So that's what we're looking at. And in terms of feeling really healthy, you just don't notice it. I once had a car that I went to sell and, you know, our bodies are kind of like this car that I had. And so there I am, like opening the back of my car and holding it up with a two by four. I had a minivan, holding it up with a two by four. And then I started laughing like, you know, that's normal is for me to hold up. the back of my car with a two by four and that the windows get stuck when you roll them up and you have to kind of do this thing with your hands to make sure that it goes up and there was something really wrong with my air conditioning and you know little by little our bodies start doing funny little things but they happen slowly over time. And we just learn to live with them. And I think we do that with digestive issues all the time. If your digestive system is giving you signs or your body's giving you signs that it's not happy, those are messages that say, I'm trying to get your attention. Something's not right here. And let's try to figure out what that is rather than just kind of taking more and more ibuprofen for that headache or... or taking more and more Tums or more and more proton pump inhibitors for that GERD. You know, it's like, what is really the root issue? And what I love is that our bodies do tell us. And if we can just pay attention to what our body's signs and symptoms are, then we can usually figure out a solution so that we don't have to live with things that make us uncomfortable chronically. We've just explored the uncomfortable world of gas and bloating, uncovering the potential causes and strategies for finding relief. From identifying food triggers to addressing underlying gut imbalances, it's clear that these common digestive issues can be more than just a nuisance. They can be signs of deeper gut health concerns. But as we've learned throughout this series, optimal gut health isn't just about eliminating problems, it's also about nourishing. our digestive system with the right foods. So what if there were foods that could not only help alleviate digestive discomfort but also provide powerful support for our gut microbiome and overall health? Coming up we'll dive into a group of foods that have been hailed as true superheroes for gut health. These humble yet mighty foods have been linked to longevity, better blood sugar control and a thriving gut microbiome. We'll explore the science behind resistant starch and why it's so beneficial for our gut bacteria. You'll learn about the second meal effect and how certain foods can help regulate your blood sugar and reduce inflammation long after you've finished eating them. So stay tuned to discover how these humble gut-friendly foods support your digestive health, ease autoimmune symptoms and even extend your lifespan. Resistant starch is a form of starch that's not the same as fiber. Starch is not fiber. There are different carbohydrates. But resistant starch is a form of starch that is not digestible by human enzymes. And so the beauty of resistant starch is that similar to fiber, And similar to polyphenols, it's able to work its way through 15 to 20 feet of intestine, remain intact, come into contact with our gut microbes that live in our colon, and then it becomes food for the gut microbes. Resistant starch is prebiotic. Resistant starch behaves functionally the exact same way that soluble fiber behaves. What that means is that even though resistant starch is not fiber, we might as well call it fiber or pretend that it is fiber because it arrives in the colon, is consumed by the microbes, and they produce short chain fatty acids from it. So resistant starches are found in legumes, found in whole grains, and although we vilify white potatoes, the most redeeming thing about white potatoes is resistant starch. If you heat your potatoes and then let them cool, you will produce resistant starches from those potatoes. If you do this repeatedly, heat, cool, heat, cool, heat, cool, each time you will crank up the level of resistant starches. And this is the reason why those mashed potatoes in the fridge are so good. Resistant starch helps to slow the absorption of sugars into the body. So it helps with glycemic control, but it also helps with the microbiome. The microbiome has been very much implicated in conditions like diabetes and heart disease. So when there is a healthy microbiome, there is going to be better blood sugar control. Those good bacteria have a lot of different jobs. They wear a lot of hats. And one of the hats they wear is glycemic control. The healthier the microbiome, the more that you have those commensal bacteria in the body, the lower risk that you will have for things like diabetes. And resistant starch is going to... feed that good bacteria. So we want to make sure that we're eating the resistant starch. And that's going to come in things like plantains and not when you ripen them for six days on the counter, like plantains that are starchy, a starchy banana that's not very ripened and the beans. So these are some of the resistant starches that can really help with your microbiome and with blood sugar control. So a resistant starch helps create a better environment in the gut. So if you just take potatoes. Boil them and then cool them before you eat them or reheat them. It creates a resistant starch, which helps good bugs sit in your gut. It almost glues the good bugs and the probiotics in there. You can do the same thing with rice, making it a resistant starch. You cook it, you cool it before you eat it or reheat it. Now, scientists call this the second meal effect. It means that when you eat greens and beans and berries and onions, you're going to get a lot of good bacteria in your gut. Because you thicken the biofilm, now the next meal you ate with some mango or banana in it, or some oatmeal, the glycemic effect of the mango or the oatmeal is blunted because you ate the berries and the beans. Now these foods are rich in resistant, like beans are so high in resistant starch, and there's so much different types of fiber in these foods, that the fibers are what the bacteria live on, and the bacteria now chew up the fiber, and create short-chain fatty acids. And the short-chain fatty acids, like butyrate, is an example of a short-chain fatty acid that has anti-inflammatory effects on the digestive tract wall and also is absorbed into the bloodstream and has negative feedback on the apostat and the hypothalamus, causing you to feel satisfied with less food, causing you to weight loss, and also has anti-diabetic effects and anti-inflammatory effects that lead to lower risk of colon cancer and other cancers. Legumes are super loaded with fiber as well as plant-based protein and lots of other beneficial compounds. We have studies showing us that statistically around the world the more beans people eat the healthier they're likely to be. In fact in the blue zones, the places in the world where people traditionally live the longest and healthiest, they almost all consume large amounts of beans of one kind or another. And legumes also by the way include split peas and lentils as well as chickpeas. peas and all the different beans in the bean family. So those beans, I want people to eat them regularly, but they should be soaked overnight. And then you can take the water they were soaking in and mush it around with your hands just to get some dirt or any rock or stone out of it. And then you pour that water away and don't use that water for cooking. And then you cook them in water. But when you're making a soup or a stew or a chili, the first thing you do is put the water up with the bean in it and cook it because you want that bean to cook for two hours. You want it to cook a long time. I'm making a soup. getting the beans cooking first on a low flame and then they're cooking a long time while I'm adding the other ingredients to it and I'm going to keep that soup cooking a full two hours to make sure your beans are soft. So beans should be consumed in a soft form because they become difficult to digest and you don't destroy all the lectins and anti-nutrient factors unless you cook them a long time. That said, the consumption of beans are radically linked to longer lifespan and reduced risk of cancer. They are unquestionably a lifespan promoting foods. And we have this Hispanic paradox in America. It's really interesting because we find that the Hispanic population, even if you compare it to other populations with the same degree of, you could be living in the same area or poverty or stress or whatever. difficulties they have in life, they still live longer than, let's say, compared to a Caucasian or black population. And we tracked it back. It's all because of the consumption. They culturally eat more beans. And even though they're eating poorly and eating more Americanized, but the fact that they culturally use more beans is giving them a health advantage over other populations living in, let's say, more areas of more economic challenged areas of the country. You follow me? So the whole key here is we have to get our population to eat more beans and eat less of whatever other foods they're eating. Less processed foods, less fast food, less animal products, and more vegetables, beans, and fruit. And beans are inexpensive, they keep well, even outside the refrigerator, and they're easy to cook with, and they have rich in protein, and they're filling, and they're lifespan promoting. From ancient traditions to modern science, Beans have long been recognized as a cornerstone of healthy diets. These humble foods can support our gut microbiome, regulate blood sugar and even contribute to longevity. It's clear that what we eat plays a crucial role in our digestive health and overall well-being. But optimal digestion isn't just about what we eat, it's also about how we eat and how our body processes the food we consume. So, What if there were simple strategies that we could implement to enhance our digestive process and maximize the benefits of the foods we're consuming? Coming up, we'll dive into the world of digestive remedies and eating hygiene. You'll learn about natural remedies that can support healthy digestion, from the power of apple cider vinegar to the benefits of bitter foods and herbs. We'll also discuss the importance of stomach acid and how to recognize signs that your digestive system could need some extra help. Let's dive in. There's three specific organs that are responsible for digestion. There's other parts to this, but I'm keeping it simple, right? Because obviously, digestion starts in your mouth. You have to chew your food. That's why when you're eating, it's so important that you're eating in a seated position. You're not having the TV on because you want to be in a relaxed parasympathetic state because the parasympathetic nervous system is all about rest and digest. But unfortunately, most of us are living on the opposite side of that spectrum in fight or flight. And when you're in fight or flight, that stress state, you can't digest your food. Why is that? Because when you're stressed, your body doesn't care about digesting its food. All right. All it thinks is that I'm running away from a T-Rex because I'm going to be lunch for that T-Rex. Right. It's like here I am in Naples, Florida. We moved here about a year and a half ago and literally three months after we moved here, we got Ian, one of the worst hurricanes in Florida history. So when a hurricane comes, it's not the best time to remodel your kitchen. Right. Like you need to stay and fight that hurricane. You're going to board up the windows, right? Because we're in a fight or flight state. Or we're going to flee. We're going to run. We're going to get out of town and run away from that hurricane. Or there's a third F, we're going to freeze like a deer in headlights. So what happens is, is that when we're in that stress state, that could be from emotional stress, physical stress, chemical stress, toxins. Your body shuts down the digestive system because it doesn't want to waste its energy. So when that happens, now... We're not producing the hydrochloric acid. We're not producing the digestive enzymes. We're not fully producing the bile salt. So when I say there's three specific organs responsible for digesting your food, it's the acid in your stomach. It's the enzymes secreted by your pancreas, the digestive enzymes that are going to help you break down your proteins, your fats, and your carbohydrates. And it's the bile salts that are secreted from your gallbladder, right? So the gallbladder does two things. It's helping you detoxify, but it's also helping you break down fats. And if you want to know if you're having any trouble digesting your food, which is ultimately the cause of food sensitivities, you're going to get bloating, you're going to get indigestion. And that's not to be all of these, it could be one or the other. You're going to get stools that are going to float. You're going to burp after you eat. Those are all symptoms of the body not breaking down the food and not digesting its food. Common symptom of low stomach acid is actually reflux. People who complain of reflux are often put on a proton pump inhibitor, which blocks stomach acid. But oftentimes reflux is the result of too little stomach acid. In Chinese medicine, they call this rebellious qi, right? It means that the body is pushing the energy up instead of down. And rebellious qi is really because the body doesn't have enough energy to push it down. So it's trying to push it back out again. So when we have the right levels of hydrochloric acid, then the the chi, the energy will be pushing in the right direction because it has all the resources it needs to go down through digestion. So we want to really see if we're... Exposing ourselves to proton pump inhibitors, and it may not be because we have too much stomach acid, that can create a risk factor for bacteria coming in on our food as well. I started taking some apple cider vinegar. So about 20 to 30 minutes before my biggest meal of the day, which for me was dinner time, I took a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I diluted that in about one-third cup of warm water. Now, I like warm water because warm water is actually going to increase the gastric acid secretions in your stomach. And it's the gastric acid that's going to in turn increase the hydrochloric acid production. Now, I wasn't ready for something like betaine hydrochloric acid, which is where you're actually giving your body hydrochloric acid because I had acid reflux at the time. That would have been like gasoline on the fire. So I started out with something more gentle and I didn't go right to one tablespoon at the start. I started with half of a teaspoon and one third cup of warm water. And if you don't have warm water, that's fine. Just make sure it's clean water, filtered water, and then you drink that on an empty stomach. What the apple cider vinegar is going to do is, number one, even though it's acidic outside the body, it has a very strong alkalizing effect once you metabolize that. So it's going to help the digestive system because the gut is alkaline in nature. It's going to help your digestive enzymes. But most important, what it's going to do is it's going to start to gently build up the hydrochloric acid so that, number one, we can kill off any pathogens coming there, right? It's not just about preventing food sensitivities. Your gut, your stomach, it's the first line of defense. So if we have enough hydrochloric acid, food sensitivities go down. But if we don't have enough hydrochloric acid, that's when we get the food sensitivities. That's when we get malnutrition because now I could be eating the best organic strength eating diet in the world. But if I'm not breaking down those foods and assimilating those foods, I'm not getting my nutrients into the cells. So here I am eating all the foods I think are healthy, but I'm exhausted. I'm chronically fatigued. Why is that? Because I'm not getting the nutrition into the body, into the cells where it's needed most. And then the third thing that happens is, again, being the first line of defense, any toxin or more important, any stealth infection, stealth pathogen, that could be a parasite, that could be mold, that could be inflammatory bacteria, that could be candida, whatever it might be on its way down into the microbiome, into the stomach. If we have sufficient levels of stomach acid, guess what happens? Boom, destroys it right there. One of the simplest things that I love is actually using bitters. And bitters is a whole category of botanicals. It can include coffee, right? I mean, you know, a lot of people drink coffee. We think everyone wants it for like the caffeine and the stimulation, but I think there are a lot of people who love the feeling of having those bitter compounds, those alkaloids in their body because it activates lots of really important physiology, including our immune response. So coffee is a bitter. Dark leafy greens are bitters. Orange zest, the zest of an orange, is a little bit bitter. And there are a lot of bitter kinds of herbs, even chamomile, hops. There are numerous, numerous bitters. And in fact, many herbal companies and herbalists make bitter blends so that you can literally just... do drops or a spray in your mouth. Even you can get things like Angostura bitters or like the kinds of bitters, Swedish bitters, things that you might get to put in mixed drinks. Those literally have a whole array of benefits. These bitter compounds stimulate the immune response in the gut and not just in the gut, but in the ear, nose, and throat. So those are two areas, right? Our mouth and our ear, nose, and throat are... open to the outside world and sample all the different organisms and different kinds of things we might be exposed to. And so bitters actually stimulate our immune response, our non-specific immune response to virtually anything that might come our way, whether it be the new variant of the flu or COVID or strep throat. So that's number one. And there are many different kinds of bitter foods and bitter specific kinds of botanicals. My approach to poor digestion, poor stomach acidity, poor enzyme production, is to introduce herbs that actually stimulate. versus replace. And these herbs are bitter in nature. And when taken, they actually stimulate hydrochloric acid. They stimulate enzyme production. They get the digestive juices flowing naturally without replacing them. And the herbs that I tend to use are things like artichoke leaf, dandelion root, angelica. These are some of the kind of common ones that are involved in most bitters compounds. There's a lot of other bitters herbs out there. but these are ones that are most notable for a bitters blend. They really do stoke the fire. So in my opinion, using a stoke the fire approach versus replacement is in the long term going to be a better pathway for healing because we're kickstarting our body to do what it should be doing. With someone that has digestive insufficiency, meaning they're not producing enough stomach acid or they're not producing enough enzymes, we might add a bitters compound into the mix. And that's going to be a blend of very bitter tasting herbs. Someone who's never taken a bitters compound before, it's actually very simple. Surprisingly, people who have never taken this before, when they take it for the first time, they say, actually, I really like it. My body craves it. So that's telling me their body's actually responding very positively to the blend. And it's just taken a small amount, maybe a half a teaspoon and a little bit of water, five minutes before meals, 10 minutes before meals, just to get the juices flowing. And I even use it for people post-meal. Some people say, well, actually, sometimes I just feel really jammed up after I eat. And I'm just take a little shot of bitters. It'll help move things through. And it does. It works very nicely for that. It's a very simple intervention. And there are a couple of different brands out there that have very good blends of herbs in them. I would stay away from anything that has senna in them, though. Swedish bitters are known for having senna in them, which can lead to diarrhea if you're not experiencing constipation. So just a straight classic bitters compound is great. And you can get started with that. Some of them come in a spray bottle. I have a spray in my purse. I just, you know, right before going out to eat just a couple of sprays and it just helps get things moving a little bit better. So it's a really great intervention and it's super simple. Instead of doing bitters compound, we can also add bitter foods to our diet. Maybe someone's just a little bit sluggish in their digestion and need a little extra bump, but maybe the herbs can help. aren't necessary. So I always encourage getting bitter foods into the diet. That comes from things like arugula or collard greens, broccoli rabe, things that you would imagine as bitter foods in your diet. And oftentimes in our society, we tend to shy away from those more bitter foods. We want to go for more of the savory and the sweet and the fatty, and that's fine. Those are three of the five tastes that most of us are missing that bitter. component. And getting more bitter foods into our diet stimulates digestion. It helps with blood sugar control. It can reduce inflammation. It improves bowel movements. So there's a whole host of reasons to just, in general, get more bitter foods into our diet. So one of my favorite supplements is bitters. Now, bitters don't have to be supplements. They can be food. That's why I love it so much. But bitters have the ability to stimulate the digestive tract. to help to make enzymes, to make bile, to lubricate the digestive tract, and dramatically increase digestive capacity. So I recommend them to all my clients, whether they have autoimmune disease or not. And one of the things that's super important, I'll go, okay, you can buy a little bottle of bitters and, or you can juice some bitter greens. And take a little bit and swish it around in your mouth before your meal. Or you can chew on and become a human juicer some bitter greens and chew it while you're making your meal to help stimulate your digestive tract. People ask me, oh, they're so bitter. Can I put stevia in them? And I say, no, because that's the point. It's the bitterness that the body perceives in the mouth that stimulates this amazing healing powers. Stimulates anti- inflammatory. It helps to stimulate the digestion better. So even if the gut isn't repaired fully yet, you're not going to get these undigested proteins going into the bloodstream because they're going to be broken down. The foods that are bitter don't just have bitter taste. They have an amazing amount of nutrients in them and they can really stimulate your immune system. They can stimulate your immune system. digestion. They can help support hormonal health because they're just loaded with antioxidants and nutrients that the body needs. And face it, most people don't eat enough vegetables. They don't like bitter. other than chocolate. But they eat chocolate not when it's bitter, they eat it after it's been sweetened, right? So developing a taste for it takes some time, but bitter foods are your friend. Some of my favorites are dandelion green. They are bitter. You're not going to take a lot, although I've developed such a taste for it I can eat a whole plate of dandelion greens. But just munch on them right before your meal, make a little juice out of it, or there are tinctures that you can take of dandelion. incorporate it into your meal, right? Have it as an appetizer before your protein and before your carbohydrates. So it's going to help to digest it. Arugula, it's one of my favorites. Not only is arugula awesome in terms of bitters, but it's really good for people who have oxalate sensitivities because it's virtually no oxalates in there. Plus it's a nitric. oxide stimulator and nitric oxide is a vasodilator. So it's going to give you some cardiac benefits and some blood pressure benefits. So that's great. Some of the other herbs that are not maybe quite as bitter as that, but parsley, mustard greens. So those are all the greens. And then, well, there's a lot of other greens. Kale is bitter. There's in those salad mixes, there's one, I don't know what it's called, but it's very curly and it's in that salad mix and it's super, super bitter. So anything that you taste and go, ooh, that's really bitter, you can incorporate into your meals, especially if you're doing your salad before the main meal, it's going to help you digest. Citrus peel. Citrus peel is very bitter. In some of the bitter formulas, we have dandelion, we have orange peel, we have some of these other herbs that are bitter. So the way you'd have to do that, because the citrus is sweet, so that's not going to do it for you, is you do the scraping of the peel. And then you can just mix it into your salad or your salad dressing. Just don't make the salad full of sweet stuff because that can counteract the effect on the digestive tract of the bitters. So if you were to go to the health food store and say, I'm going to get some of these bitters she was talking about, there's a variety of them. You want to look for one that has no sugar in it or no sweetener, even if it's stevia or monk fruit or something like that. You don't want to have a sweetener in there because that'll counteract the effect of the bitters. Most of them will have a little alcohol if it's a tincture. Alcohol just helps with the absorption. If you're an alcoholic or you're sensitive to alcohol in such a way, then you may avoid that. You want to look for something that has a variety of herbs in it. So ones I like to look for are dandelion, orange peel. They don't usually have arugula in those, but they definitely I've seen a lot with dandelion and orange peel. And then there's some other herbs that are bitter. And I'm off the top of my head, not remembering all of them. But there's warming bitters and cooling bitters, right? So if you tend to be a person that runs hot, then the cooling bitters tend to be good. If you tend to be a person that runs cold, the warming bitters might be good. For those of you out there who are on this journey, especially if you're looking at an autoimmune condition that you're struggling to find remission, struggling to help. those symptoms and feel some relief, stay with it. There's hope out there. Keep researching, keep looking for the practitioner that's going to work with you, that's going to be the right match, that'll help you address those root causes. It's not perfect. Autoimmunity is not easy to address and you're not alone. This is a very common, unfortunately becoming more common subset of health conditions that's really growing in our society. So the more research that's being done on these conditions, the more we're learning as practitioners, the more that scientists are learning about how to address these conditions. So just really encourage you to give yourself that space, take the rest that you need and keep trying to find someone that can work with you on this, that understands autoimmunity and knows how to really look at the whole picture. What an enlightening journey we've had in this fifth episode of The Gut. autoimmune solution. We've delved deep into the critical importance of bowel regularity and its profound impact on our overall health. We've explored the often uncomfortable but crucial topics of constipation, gas and bloating, uncovering strategies to find relief and support optimal digestive function. But our exploration of the gut autoimmune connection is far from over. In our next episode, we'll be tackling a critical yet often overlooked piece of the autoimmune puzzle, environmental toxins. In episode six, we'll dive into the hidden toxins in our environment that may be contributing to autoimmune conditions. Most importantly, we'll discuss safe and effective strategies for detoxifying your body and environment. This knowledge isn't just for those with health concerns. It's vital for anyone looking to safeguard their well-being. So, I'll see you there. Music

Leaky colon is different to leaky gut or similar and yet more disgusting. Oh, well, leaky gut has been getting a lot of airtime in recent years when but leaky colon does not get enough attention. And you'll find out in this episode what that is, what we're talking about and why it's important because as much as we, maybe it's not the nicest topic to talk about. Yes, the microbiome is exciting and sexy as far as like scientific knowledge goes.

No one really wants to talk about, you know, Toilet habits and you know how well we are doing in that regard but it is so important and can be the difference between you know you setting up your body for like ongoing inflammation to you know detoxing it at your very best and so that's that's why it requires conversation and so in this episode you'll not only find out about leaky colon what it is what you can do about it why it's important. You'll also learn about transit time and you'll learn about transit time why that is important and not talked about enough as well as you know what to do the simple stuff what to do if you're constipated which a lot of us do have issues with that and it needs airtime and it needs solutions because if it's not just making you feel uncomfortable it's actually part of the disease process it can be. Yeah, like we were saying yesterday about inflammation, like how there's little spot fires in your body, you would say that our digestive health, and particularly toilet time, is one of those things where maybe things aren't quite right and you're like, well, I can just get on with my day and it's a bit awkward at times, but that's all it is. But these are actually massive, you would say, barometers of your digestive health, which has a huge connection to autoimmune conditions and the myriad of other conditions that are associated with that.

This is really critically important. And I think the general public information like level very low would have no idea and just you know we just get along with it and and just hope it goes away at some point but i think we need to be more educated than that i think there needs to be more specific protocols and particularly people that are further along that spectrum than others so what can we do about it and i guess yeah what what are some other options yeah so i mean you'll learn in this episode lots of great tools and resources and protocols and suggestions throughout this entire episode from our wonderful experts. But for those of you who just love to go that little bit deeper or just want to spend more time on a topic than perhaps we can do in a docuseries where we're trying to cover all the tools at your disposal, we have As part of our platinum packages, something that we call our collections and so what we have is five different collections on five key topics that we found our audiences in the past have really wanted just a deep dive on and so we have vagus nerve function, we have more on leaky gut, we have sleep.

Sleep is so important, doesn't get enough airtime, not enough people know about the tools available to them and we also have more on leaky gut and liver. and detox. So very, very, very important topics. And each one of those are led by a very respected doctor. We have Dr. Peter Bongiorno, who you see in the series, and also Dr. Louise Sayer.

So both of those are giving presentations on each of those topics. We have recipe books and implementation guides along with those. So for those of us who are just a little bit more nerdy than the rest, myself included, I am all in it. I would say probably as well, maybe you're not even on the nerdy spectrum.

you know, you're a nutritionist and I'm not. So I'm a little bit less. Yeah.

You don't have to be degree qualified. No, no, no. And that's the point I'm making is that for the average, you would say punters like myself that also just wanted to know a little bit more about health. I think there's so many layers to this and you think, you know, going through a docuseries event is just like the tip of the iceberg.

This is an incredible like. A thing to keep digging down deeper into and often obviously we can't cover everyone's ailment at once so I think having something where you can keep that journey going and you'll be surprised as you peel back that onion layer upon onion layer upon onion layer of how much this is all connected within our bodies and some of the most incredibly simple but yet powerful and effective protocols you can do to send your body in the right direction on its healing journey. Yes. So without further ado, we'll let you get back to episode five and learn about what we're talking about.

Thank you, Colin, and much, much more. Enjoy. Hello and welcome back to the Gut Autoimmune Solution.

I'm your host, Sarah Otto. In our previous episode, we delved deep into the world of chronic inflammation and its profound connection to autoimmune conditions. In this episode, we're turning our attention to another crucial aspect of gut health that's often overlooked, leaky colon. Leaky colon occurs when the barrier function of the large intestine specifically becomes compromised, triggering immune reactions and inflammation throughout the body. While it may not be the most glamorous topic, the health of our colon and the efficiency of our digestion play a vital role in our overall well-being and immune function.

In this episode, we'll explore the importance of healthy bowel movements, uncover the hidden dangers of constipation, and discuss strategies for dealing with uncomfortable digestive issues like gas and bloating. We'll also dive into the power of certain foods and natural remedies that can support our well-being. optimal digestive function.

Whether you're dealing with digestive discomfort, autoimmune symptoms, or you simply want to optimize your gut health, this episode is packed with practical information that could transform your approach to digestion and overall health. So get ready to uncover the secrets to a happy, healthy gut. Working as a clinician for over 24 years now is like, if someone's pooing three times a week, they're generally chronically unwell.

autoimmunity is one of those things that might flow on from that might just be chronic fatigue or it could be allergies it could be food sensitivities all that tied into slow transit time because you're just absorbing things to that colon wall and i think that is an area that is under discussed when it comes to the the autoimmunity aspect of things but even in terms of our optimal health perspective is that yeah we've got leaky gut we've got dysbiosis but we also have transit time in the colon as the other huge um factor that can can essentially determine how much inflammation we're getting in our system and then again how that interact with our genes will determine how that manifests with those people. So many would be familiar with the concept of leaky gut, which when we say that term, we're generally referring to a leaky small intestine. But there's also what I refer to as leaky colon or leaky large intestine, which I think gets less coverage and discussion, but is also pivotal when it comes to optimal health, but also related to autoimmunity as well. And this relates to one, levels of inflammation that actually are in the colon, but two is how quickly things move. through the colon.

And through the small intestine, I suppose one of the lucky things there is things generally move through quickly. Yeah, so things move generally from mouth to the first bit of your colon in about 90 minutes. Now what happens from the first bit of your colon to the last bit of your colon when it reaches the toilet bowl, that can vary from four hours in extreme ends to 25 days on the other extreme end.

And those are people that I've worked with in my clinical practice where the shortest transit time I've seen is four hours after eating something that's in the toilet bowl. the slowest i've seen is 25 days for that food they ate to actually appear on the other end yeah and and the longer it's in there for the longer there is time for that absorption of of bacterial toxins like endotoxins um environmental toxins uh compounds your body's trying to get rid of because one of the main ways your body is getting rid of toxins from that we get from the environment or even dealing with excess hormones for example is supposed to come out through our poop and we're supposed to to actually poo that out but when we don't Those things get reabsorbed. So when somebody has chronic constipation, you do have to look at their diet to see that they're getting enough food, enough vegetables, enough healthy fat.

These are pretty important for proper bowel function. Fat and fiber and water really have a lot to do with creating the right contents for a bowel. But a big, big reason I see people with constipation is, yes, I see things, lack of enzymes, food allergies, lack of probiotics.

I see that. But what's very common is undiagnosed thyroid dysfunction. Your thyroid profoundly impacts the motility of your bowels.

And when you see somebody like that that has thyroid-type symptoms, weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, losing their hair, losing their eyebrows, swelling in their neck, cold all the time, depression. I think that you have to properly evaluate the thyroid because that's a major player in bowel function. Well, the way I do bowel transit time assessment in my patient is very low tech. You can go into hospital settings and ingest radioactive probes and they will measure it as they make their way all through your gut. You can do it by a smart pill in some centers in Europe and US where you can swallow a pill and it will measure its transit through your gut.

But again, it's not easily available or cheaply available to everyone. Whereas you can get your patients to eat. or you can do this yourself. Eat some corn on the cob or some canned corn. Eat some black quinoa or red quinoa or sometimes black sesame seeds or white sesame seeds.

Something that you can easily see in your poo. Most people will know that when they've eaten corn, they've seen, oh, I've seen poo when I've eaten corn. Yeah, those foods I think are pretty good for this. Some foods are less good, like beets or beetroot. Yeah, it makes your poo purple, but beets actually speed up your transit time.

So you get an artificially quick answer to what the result would be. Then you have charcoal. People could do charcoal capsules, which makes their poo go black. Again, easy to see, but charcoal slows down your gut, so you get an artificially slow response.

And a third option, which I'm not particularly comfortable with myself, is a blue food dye. So there are people who do the blue poo challenge, where they're ingesting a synthetic blue food dye and a baked muffin, for example, then again, just keeping tabs on exactly how long it takes to go from mouth to toilet bowl. And there's two aspects to this test. If you want to see when it first comes out, you can see right down, 6.15 PM, I ate this corn.

you know, and then you will see when you first see it in your poo and when you finish seeing it too, because for some people that'll come out the next movement, but then keep coming up for days and other people, it will come out, not the next movement, but the one after that, or the one after that, but actually up to weeks later. Yeah. And I think my champion slow pooer was 25 days.

Now she was emptying her bowels every two or three days. So I knew by default that her bowels were slow, but she wasn't just pooing once every 25 days. It was, you know, every two or three days.

So I knew it was gonna be slow. I just was not expecting. 25 days. And I also had a case earlier in my practice life that illustrated to me the importance of doing the bowel transit time assessment because it's cheap. It doesn't cost anything.

It's easy to do. So I now do it with every single patient I see. It was illustrated by this patient that was never constipated, never missed a day, always did what people would call the perfect poo first thing in the morning every day. We did the transit time test for her.

It was 10 days before she saw the first bit of corn come out. 10 days. If I just looked at, okay, you're pooing every day and you've got like a nice soft log that you're passing easily, your bile must be working fine.

I would have completely missed the fact that she actually had 10 days worth of poo backed up in there that she's actually absorbing toxins and other products, you know, inflammatory products through. So I think this is an essential test that we need to do in all of our patients, even if they are apparently pooing normally from a medical perspective, it's really important that we check that. Now, when patients are pooing every two days and doing hard rock-like pellets. We know it's going to be slow, but I think it's really important to get an idea of how slow that is, because we know that delving into research more, a really important factor to determining how optimal health, but disease risk as well, and how much the microbiome composition is contributing to your inflammatory load or your disease process depends upon how much of those toxins you're absorbing.

And that is dependent on, yes, small bowel leakiness, sure, but how slowly things move through the colon as well. And it goes back to, I mean, you know. Hippocrates, you said that, you know, death sits in the bowels or all disease is caused by, you know, poor digestion. And I would actually agree that, you know, I might go, you know, poor gastrointestinal function is the root cause of all disease.

And I would say that the science is actually backing that up now between the microbiota composition, leaky gut and gut transit time. Those things are pivotal to determining what our inflammatory load is like. The type four is on the Bristol stool. And if I would have done in the past, then, okay, you must be fine. You know.

And it's just like, no, I mean, she had fatigue and she had brain fog and she was unwell. You know, there was definitely things going on, but you're trying to always find the cause is why is this person experiencing those symptoms? And that's why we have to kind of assess those things. And obviously I look at the gut, I look at the world through a gut lens. So I was going, okay, how is leaky gut, potential leaky gut, potential dysbiosis or potential slow transit time contributing to your disease process?

Because to me, those things are key and you cannot be healthy. if any of those three things are not in an ideal zone. You might be symptom-free for a while, or might have low-grade chronic symptoms, yes, but I don't think you're going to be ultimately healthy. So the Bristol stool chart was developed by a professor and his students, and they all started looking at, I think they were in the UK, and they started looking at their poops and recording what they looked like.

And... I think we've all experienced all these different stages that are there. So a normal stool, when it comes out of us, should come pretty quickly, and it looks kind of like a brown banana.

And sometimes they can be quite long, and you can even see, like, the shape of your colon in them because they have these bends because that's how they came. And... That's kind of a perfect poo and usually you sit down on the toilet and within a minute you're done. Um, so that's kind of perfect. Then we all have had really loose stools, or we've had really diarrhea that's watery, right?

And so you can see those on the Bristol stool chart, where you have a poo that just falls completely apart as soon as it hits the toilet bowl, or, or you've got the runs, which is really liquid, which can dehydrate you very quickly. And Usually when we have the runs, it's our body saying, I'm trying to get rid of this really fast because I don't want this to stay in my body. On the other hand, we have people who are chronically constipated and what their poos look like is more like rabbit poo.

It's like little balls. And so when it comes out in little balls, you are not well hydrated. You don't have enough fiber. And maybe you need more magnesium.

as well. Or maybe you have a poo that looks like it's all balls kind of put together, and you can see that. And so all of these are on the Bristol stool chart.

And what you're really looking for is kind of that ideal, easy brown banana that comes out of you. You also want to look at your poop sometimes to see what's in them. So first of all, people often would tell me that they see undigested food in their in their stool, which may indicate a need for digestive enzymes or slowing down and chewing better when you're eating. So there are just some ways kind of using the Bristol stool chart and then also using your bowel transit time to give you an idea of how healthy your bowels are and how you're moving food through this process of digestion.

So in those patients that do have slow transit time, it's trying to work out why that's the case. For some, it is simple. And I think it comes back to what I call FEF. So it's like fiber, exercise, and fluid. If you're not drinking enough fluid, that can slow down your bowels.

If you're not eating enough fiber, it can slow down your bowels. If you're not exercising, it can slow down your bowels. So that was one of the things that came through in my original naturopathic training, and I still go back to that as a basis, is FEF. What are those things looking like?

And for a lot of people, you change those things, and all of a sudden their bowel starts working great. But it's certainly not that easy in everybody. In fact, there's some people in which increasing fiber worsens the cost of patients and slows things down even more. And this used to spin me out as a practitioner 20 years ago.

It'd be like, what's going on here? Why? It doesn't make any sense. And it was only when some research was done in California around the role of methane gas and gut transit that it came really became more noted, but okay, what's going on here?

Is that fiber is being fermented, it's increasing hydrogen gas, and there's a microbe in your gut that most of us have, but some of us have too much of. called methenobevibacter, or it's a methane-producing microbe, but it eats hydrogen gas, and it converts the hydrogen through to methane, and methane slows down your gut. So this is totally explained why in some of these people, the FEF approach didn't work, is the more fiber, they get more constipated. It's like, okay, well, you're feeding methane-producing bacteria.

So I think always go back to the basics of making sure fiber fluid exercise, for sure. But there's going to be percentage of people that have a methane overgrowth, and that's something we can just... discern generally one of two ways, most accurately via breath testing, and that would be the sort of more traditional SIBO type breath testing where you're using the lactulose as a substrate, I think is probably best to looking specifically for methane status. But then you can also look at the ecosystem composition to go, okay, do you have methenybrovibacter present?

If so, how much? When it comes to trying to speed up transit time, it's looking at whether methane is playing a role or not. And I think when they're But when it is, there's a subset of patients where methane is key, in which case we focus on decreasing methane. And that would include a probiotic like lactobacillus reuteri DSM-17938, very catchy name, I know, found in bio-gym, that's been shown to decrease methane output. And there's clinical trials showing that it speeds up transit time and softens stool.

So we can see how it's working in that situation. There's a prebiotic fiber called partially hydrolyzed guar gum, which is a somewhat unique prebiotic fiber because it actually targets your beet rate producing species. And it also has like a bowel normalizing effect in most patients, and it can decrease methane in patients as well.

So we might use that. And we'll often use herbs as well that are actually antimicrobial against that methane producing microbe. According to government and Haynes research, somewhere about 60 to 70% of us are magnesium insufficient. And we get magnesium again in whole grains and green leafy vegetables. And so taking a magnesium supplement has been one of the best ways that I've seen for people who are really constipated to become less constipated.

So I would recommend taking a little bit of magnesium at night before you go to sleep because magnesium will also relax your muscles and relax you so that you can fall asleep more easily. I do that every night. Just take a couple hundred milligrams of magnesium. And I will sometimes have people taking magnesium to what we call bowel tolerance until they get really soft stools and then back off.

I was working with somebody a long time ago who was so constipated and we had tried liquids and she exercised well and she was getting plenty of fiber in her diet. And I said, well, let's try some magnesium. And the RDA for it is about 400 milligrams. She got up to... 3,500 milligrams before she started having normal bowel movements.

So I added a supplement for her called choline citrate and had her take a couple tablespoons of that once a day in liquid. And immediately her needs dropped to about a thousand milligrams a day. So that's been miraculous for so many people that I've worked with. So magnesium deficiency is unfortunately a pretty common phenomenon and leads to one of the most... common issues that people suffer from, constipation.

And again, magnesium can be sourced from food and that can be anything from pumpkin seeds to chia seeds to almonds and spinach, but people are deficient and a lot of it comes from our poorly sourced food. So even though you may be thinking that you're having a diverse diet, a lot of us need to stop and check for vitamins such as magnesium because of where our food comes from. One of the most important factors in having nutritious food is having nutritious soil.

And we know that in America, there is a really big issue with farming and pesticides and chemicals and farming techniques that are using the same crop. in the same place over and over and using things like genetically modified foods. So we have a real issue with having nutritionally depleted foods.

You know, you might not even be thinking of having a magnesium deficiency, but it is so important, especially if you are suffering from things like constipation, autoimmune disease, to again, get a full... micronutrient panel and really see what's going on because you really may be surprised. Magnesium helps draw water into the bowel. So it just helps ease things along.

Magnesium is just one of those supplements that can just bring about some relief. It's taken before bed. Magnesium citrate is typically the form that I'll recommend specifically for constipation and bowel issues. There's a lot of forms of magnesium. I work with most of them.

I really like magnesium glycinate, magnesium threonate. Magnesium glycinate and threonate both work really well for anxiety. They work well for pain. And when someone that's in an autoimmune state, that pain factor is a big conversation. So magnesium glycinate and magnesium threonate can provide some relief for that pain because magnesium helps soothe the tendons and the muscles.

It's relaxing to the muscle tissue. And so that's where magnesium can really provide some benefit. And magnesium is supportive and balancing to the immune system.

So anybody that's experiencing any kind of immune imbalance, magnesium might be a deficiency that needs to be checked. And it can be easily checked on a blood test. Even your primary care physician could run a magnesium test to see if you're low.

We have a variety of ways to run magnesium levels as well. But common deficiencies with magnesium, the symptoms we might see twitching. We might see, you know, you may get little twitches maybe in your eyes.

That's a common factor with a magnesium deficiency, maybe heart palpitations. Someone might not be sleeping as well. So when we apply magnesium, The form depends on what's going on.

So one of the other reasons that people may be deficient in magnesium is because something is impeding the absorption of magnesium. And this is really important to think about because it is so prevalent in our society. And that's taking acid-reducing medication. When you reduce the amount of acid in your stomach, such as by taking proton pump inhibitors like Nexium or taking excessive amounts of histamine to receptor blockers such as pepcid or ranitidine or famotidine, then you're depleting the acid in your stomach that is necessary to help break down and absorb many nutrients.

And again, the most famous being magnesium, iron, B12, and calcium. So of course, I have a lot of patients coming to see me in practice who have been stuck on these medications for so long. And so one of the...

first things I do other than getting them off the medication and helping them understand the root cause for their acid reflux and the reason that they're on the medication is check their magnesium and check the rest of their micronutrients. And these patients have such transformations in their symptoms when you replete and optimize their levels of magnesium. So for example, I had one patient who was on PPIs.

for years. It probably was something like 20 years because there's so many doctors where when you call them and you tell them that you have acid reflux, they're like, okay, start your Nexium 40. And that's it. And then you just keep taking it your whole life because it does help.

It's a great band-aid, but you never think to stop it and no one gives you any guidance. So this person was on PPI for so long that when we checked... their magnesium. It was in the 0.5 or less range. It was almost undetectable.

Their iron, their ferritin stores were something like five, and they actually even needed iron transfusions just from being on PPIs. But one thing that was very clear was that they were suffering from constipation and stagnation. And constipation in your gut, although it's so common, but it's not something that anyone should shrug off because constipation and stagnation leads to overgrowth it leads to dysbiosis and in fact it can even lead to inflammation there's even a condition called stair girl colitis which is colitis because of the pressure that constipation and impacted stool causes on the gut wall specifically the colonic wall So this patient, when they were found to be depleted in magnesium and in the other micronutrients, and we worked to get them off the root cause of why they were depleted and then optimize the levels.

So when they were able to replace their magnesium and their iron stores, not only did their bowel movements drastically improve and become effortless, which is always the goal, but they were enjoying. newfound energy that let them lead a more enriching life. For someone that is having issues with constipation, magnesium can be beneficial.

And I say short term, but it's a good intervention while we're resolving the reason for the constipation because it does draw water into the bowel. Typically, what I recommend is 200 to 400 max of magnesium. You can take it an hour or so before bed, and it helps with that morning bowel movement. So Magnesium citrate would be the form that one would take.

It's usually the one that does create the loosening of the bowel. So I'm always careful with someone that doesn't have constipation. We're really careful with the magnesium form that we use because magnesium glycinate and magnesium threonate tend to not have that same activity in the bowel.

It's really that magnesium citrate that tends to bring the best results for constipation. Behind the bathroom door lies a wealth of information about our health. Our exploration of bowel regularity has shed light on its critical role in maintaining overall wellness. We've learned that everything from transit time to stool consistency can offer valuable insights into our digestive health, nutrient absorption and even our immune function. But for many of us, achieving optimal bowel function isn't always smooth sailing.

Even if we're having regular bowel movements, other digestive issues can still plague us and impact our quality of life. So, what about those uncomfortable and often embarrassing symptoms that many of us struggle with? What can we do when gas and bloating become a daily battle?

Coming up, we'll dive into these common yet troublesome digestive issues. We'll explore what causes excessive gas and bloating, how they might be connected to underlying gut imbalances, and most importantly, what you can do to find relief. Stay tuned as our experts share their insights on tackling these pesky symptoms.

Whether you're dealing with occasional discomfort or chronic issues, the next section could provide you with valuable strategies to improve your digestive comfort and overall gut health. So I'll tell you a story. An old friend called me recently and she said, I'm miserable.

I need a referral to somebody in my town. I said, well, what's going on? And so she tells me that she's had irritable bowel syndrome for the last 15 years or so, and that she does feel by the end of every day that she's just about six months pregnant and she's miserable and she can't really leave the house in the morning. because she doesn't know how many times she's going to have bowel movements, and they're often loose.

And that's been going on for a very long time. But she and her husband went on a trip with some friends, and she got food poisoning. And she was miserable.

She was just having chronic diarrhea, and she didn't know what to do. And so She had just seen her doctor that morning who'd put her on an antibiotic, and I said, well, that's really great because this is one of the antibiotics that is sometimes used for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, which I think you have because you have so much bloating. And I said, but let's add a low FODMAP diet and see how you do.

So I gave her the recommendation, and there's a specific app that you can put on your phone. from the University of Monash. I think it costs about five dollars and she put it on her phone and it gives you kind of red, green, yellow for every single food so that you can really look at it and say, oh I can eat this food as much as I want or I can only have four almonds because they're too high in these prebiotics. So she goes on the diet and within about a week she's starting to feel amazingly better. She's on the antibiotics for 10 days.

About three weeks in, she's just starting to feel really great. And I said, okay, now it's time, let's add some herbs. And so we added some herbs that had berberine and garlic and oil of oregano and thyme oil and some other different aromatic oils. And we added these to what she was doing every day. And that, along with the diet, started changing her life dramatically.

Her husband got on the call with us one day. He goes, you know, we always get up really early, and we like to go for a walk in the morning, but usually she can't even leave the house till about 11 because she doesn't know what's going on with her bowels. And now we just get up around 7 o'clock. We immediately can go out for a long walk and just start our day.

You have no idea what's... what this has done for our lives, for her lifestyle, plus she feels so much better. So what we see in practice is that, for example, with somebody with irritable bowel syndrome, which affects about 12 to 15% of the population and looks like gas and bloating and either constipation or diarrhea or alternating diarrhea and constipation, that people with IBS most typically have...

a slow-growing infection in their small intestines or in their large intestines, which causes that gas and bloating. So if you're somebody who really needs to loosen your pants at the end of the day, or you feel like, as somebody recently told me, she goes, I just feel like I'm pregnant all the time, especially later in the day. I've got a big belly. Then you start thinking, huh? Somebody has what we call dysbiosis.

They have either small intestinal fungal overgrowth or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth that's just kind of slow growing. It makes them uncomfortable and not feel right. But, you know, how most physicians will kind of approach this is, well, just eat more fiber. Well, a lot of times that just causes more gas and bloating in some people.

And so what we know is that we can use diet, diets that will actually help to cure this infection, along with their drugs like rifaximin that will also you can use, or their herbs like oil of oregano or berberine or garlic, which will help to bring this kind of slow-growing infection under control. So people who are more... prone to gas and bloating.

You got to look for food allergies. You have to try to work on their enzyme and probiotic balance, but usually you're dealing with somebody who has some type of bacterial overgrowth in the gut. So yeast can cause it too, but bacteria will really make you bloated and gassy. I don't think I would just approach one of those things.

I think I'd approach all. A, identify the foods that are the culprit. B, take a look at getting the enzyme and probiotic production more balanced.

But you've got to get rid of the bad bugs. That's where cleanse is designed for dysbiosis can be really effective. When digestion's working right, we just don't really notice it at all.

So if you're having any discomfort in your stomach, or you're having constipation or diarrhea or lots of gas and bloating, that discomfort is telling you something is wrong. And especially with gas and bloating, it tells you that your microbiome is out of balance. Because cells don't produce gas, only microbes produce gas. And so when we've got a lot of gas... Then it says, hmm, your microbes are fermenting what you're eating and they're causing gas.

And that could be due to a bacterial infection, a fungal infection, a parasitic infection. So healthy digestion feels like nothing. You know, you just don't even notice your digestive system at all. And...

So that's what we're looking at. And in terms of feeling really healthy, you just don't notice it. I once had a car that I went to sell and, you know, our bodies are kind of like this car that I had. And so there I am, like opening the back of my car and holding it up with a two by four.

I had a minivan, holding it up with a two by four. And then I started laughing like, you know, that's normal is for me to hold up. the back of my car with a two by four and that the windows get stuck when you roll them up and you have to kind of do this thing with your hands to make sure that it goes up and there was something really wrong with my air conditioning and you know little by little our bodies start doing funny little things but they happen slowly over time.

And we just learn to live with them. And I think we do that with digestive issues all the time. If your digestive system is giving you signs or your body's giving you signs that it's not happy, those are messages that say, I'm trying to get your attention. Something's not right here.

And let's try to figure out what that is rather than just kind of taking more and more ibuprofen for that headache or... or taking more and more Tums or more and more proton pump inhibitors for that GERD. You know, it's like, what is really the root issue?

And what I love is that our bodies do tell us. And if we can just pay attention to what our body's signs and symptoms are, then we can usually figure out a solution so that we don't have to live with things that make us uncomfortable chronically. We've just explored the uncomfortable world of gas and bloating, uncovering the potential causes and strategies for finding relief.

From identifying food triggers to addressing underlying gut imbalances, it's clear that these common digestive issues can be more than just a nuisance. They can be signs of deeper gut health concerns. But as we've learned throughout this series, optimal gut health isn't just about eliminating problems, it's also about nourishing.

our digestive system with the right foods. So what if there were foods that could not only help alleviate digestive discomfort but also provide powerful support for our gut microbiome and overall health? Coming up we'll dive into a group of foods that have been hailed as true superheroes for gut health. These humble yet mighty foods have been linked to longevity, better blood sugar control and a thriving gut microbiome. We'll explore the science behind resistant starch and why it's so beneficial for our gut bacteria.

You'll learn about the second meal effect and how certain foods can help regulate your blood sugar and reduce inflammation long after you've finished eating them. So stay tuned to discover how these humble gut-friendly foods support your digestive health, ease autoimmune symptoms and even extend your lifespan. Resistant starch is a form of starch that's not the same as fiber. Starch is not fiber.

There are different carbohydrates. But resistant starch is a form of starch that is not digestible by human enzymes. And so the beauty of resistant starch is that similar to fiber, And similar to polyphenols, it's able to work its way through 15 to 20 feet of intestine, remain intact, come into contact with our gut microbes that live in our colon, and then it becomes food for the gut microbes. Resistant starch is prebiotic.

Resistant starch behaves functionally the exact same way that soluble fiber behaves. What that means is that even though resistant starch is not fiber, we might as well call it fiber or pretend that it is fiber because it arrives in the colon, is consumed by the microbes, and they produce short chain fatty acids from it. So resistant starches are found in legumes, found in whole grains, and although we vilify white potatoes, the most redeeming thing about white potatoes is resistant starch. If you heat your potatoes and then let them cool, you will produce resistant starches from those potatoes. If you do this repeatedly, heat, cool, heat, cool, heat, cool, each time you will crank up the level of resistant starches.

And this is the reason why those mashed potatoes in the fridge are so good. Resistant starch helps to slow the absorption of sugars into the body. So it helps with glycemic control, but it also helps with the microbiome.

The microbiome has been very much implicated in conditions like diabetes and heart disease. So when there is a healthy microbiome, there is going to be better blood sugar control. Those good bacteria have a lot of different jobs. They wear a lot of hats. And one of the hats they wear is glycemic control.

The healthier the microbiome, the more that you have those commensal bacteria in the body, the lower risk that you will have for things like diabetes. And resistant starch is going to... feed that good bacteria. So we want to make sure that we're eating the resistant starch. And that's going to come in things like plantains and not when you ripen them for six days on the counter, like plantains that are starchy, a starchy banana that's not very ripened and the beans.

So these are some of the resistant starches that can really help with your microbiome and with blood sugar control. So a resistant starch helps create a better environment in the gut. So if you just take potatoes. Boil them and then cool them before you eat them or reheat them. It creates a resistant starch, which helps good bugs sit in your gut.

It almost glues the good bugs and the probiotics in there. You can do the same thing with rice, making it a resistant starch. You cook it, you cool it before you eat it or reheat it. Now, scientists call this the second meal effect.

It means that when you eat greens and beans and berries and onions, you're going to get a lot of good bacteria in your gut. Because you thicken the biofilm, now the next meal you ate with some mango or banana in it, or some oatmeal, the glycemic effect of the mango or the oatmeal is blunted because you ate the berries and the beans. Now these foods are rich in resistant, like beans are so high in resistant starch, and there's so much different types of fiber in these foods, that the fibers are what the bacteria live on, and the bacteria now chew up the fiber, and create short-chain fatty acids. And the short-chain fatty acids, like butyrate, is an example of a short-chain fatty acid that has anti-inflammatory effects on the digestive tract wall and also is absorbed into the bloodstream and has negative feedback on the apostat and the hypothalamus, causing you to feel satisfied with less food, causing you to weight loss, and also has anti-diabetic effects and anti-inflammatory effects that lead to lower risk of colon cancer and other cancers.

Legumes are super loaded with fiber as well as plant-based protein and lots of other beneficial compounds. We have studies showing us that statistically around the world the more beans people eat the healthier they're likely to be. In fact in the blue zones, the places in the world where people traditionally live the longest and healthiest, they almost all consume large amounts of beans of one kind or another.

And legumes also by the way include split peas and lentils as well as chickpeas. peas and all the different beans in the bean family. So those beans, I want people to eat them regularly, but they should be soaked overnight. And then you can take the water they were soaking in and mush it around with your hands just to get some dirt or any rock or stone out of it. And then you pour that water away and don't use that water for cooking.

And then you cook them in water. But when you're making a soup or a stew or a chili, the first thing you do is put the water up with the bean in it and cook it because you want that bean to cook for two hours. You want it to cook a long time.

I'm making a soup. getting the beans cooking first on a low flame and then they're cooking a long time while I'm adding the other ingredients to it and I'm going to keep that soup cooking a full two hours to make sure your beans are soft. So beans should be consumed in a soft form because they become difficult to digest and you don't destroy all the lectins and anti-nutrient factors unless you cook them a long time.

That said, the consumption of beans are radically linked to longer lifespan and reduced risk of cancer. They are unquestionably a lifespan promoting foods. And we have this Hispanic paradox in America. It's really interesting because we find that the Hispanic population, even if you compare it to other populations with the same degree of, you could be living in the same area or poverty or stress or whatever.

difficulties they have in life, they still live longer than, let's say, compared to a Caucasian or black population. And we tracked it back. It's all because of the consumption. They culturally eat more beans.

And even though they're eating poorly and eating more Americanized, but the fact that they culturally use more beans is giving them a health advantage over other populations living in, let's say, more areas of more economic challenged areas of the country. You follow me? So the whole key here is we have to get our population to eat more beans and eat less of whatever other foods they're eating.

Less processed foods, less fast food, less animal products, and more vegetables, beans, and fruit. And beans are inexpensive, they keep well, even outside the refrigerator, and they're easy to cook with, and they have rich in protein, and they're filling, and they're lifespan promoting. From ancient traditions to modern science, Beans have long been recognized as a cornerstone of healthy diets. These humble foods can support our gut microbiome, regulate blood sugar and even contribute to longevity. It's clear that what we eat plays a crucial role in our digestive health and overall well-being.

But optimal digestion isn't just about what we eat, it's also about how we eat and how our body processes the food we consume. So, What if there were simple strategies that we could implement to enhance our digestive process and maximize the benefits of the foods we're consuming? Coming up, we'll dive into the world of digestive remedies and eating hygiene. You'll learn about natural remedies that can support healthy digestion, from the power of apple cider vinegar to the benefits of bitter foods and herbs.

We'll also discuss the importance of stomach acid and how to recognize signs that your digestive system could need some extra help. Let's dive in. There's three specific organs that are responsible for digestion.

There's other parts to this, but I'm keeping it simple, right? Because obviously, digestion starts in your mouth. You have to chew your food.

That's why when you're eating, it's so important that you're eating in a seated position. You're not having the TV on because you want to be in a relaxed parasympathetic state because the parasympathetic nervous system is all about rest and digest. But unfortunately, most of us are living on the opposite side of that spectrum in fight or flight.

And when you're in fight or flight, that stress state, you can't digest your food. Why is that? Because when you're stressed, your body doesn't care about digesting its food.

All right. All it thinks is that I'm running away from a T-Rex because I'm going to be lunch for that T-Rex. Right.

It's like here I am in Naples, Florida. We moved here about a year and a half ago and literally three months after we moved here, we got Ian, one of the worst hurricanes in Florida history. So when a hurricane comes, it's not the best time to remodel your kitchen.

Right. Like you need to stay and fight that hurricane. You're going to board up the windows, right?

Because we're in a fight or flight state. Or we're going to flee. We're going to run. We're going to get out of town and run away from that hurricane.

Or there's a third F, we're going to freeze like a deer in headlights. So what happens is, is that when we're in that stress state, that could be from emotional stress, physical stress, chemical stress, toxins. Your body shuts down the digestive system because it doesn't want to waste its energy. So when that happens, now... We're not producing the hydrochloric acid.

We're not producing the digestive enzymes. We're not fully producing the bile salt. So when I say there's three specific organs responsible for digesting your food, it's the acid in your stomach. It's the enzymes secreted by your pancreas, the digestive enzymes that are going to help you break down your proteins, your fats, and your carbohydrates.

And it's the bile salts that are secreted from your gallbladder, right? So the gallbladder does two things. It's helping you detoxify, but it's also helping you break down fats.

And if you want to know if you're having any trouble digesting your food, which is ultimately the cause of food sensitivities, you're going to get bloating, you're going to get indigestion. And that's not to be all of these, it could be one or the other. You're going to get stools that are going to float.

You're going to burp after you eat. Those are all symptoms of the body not breaking down the food and not digesting its food. Common symptom of low stomach acid is actually reflux. People who complain of reflux are often put on a proton pump inhibitor, which blocks stomach acid.

But oftentimes reflux is the result of too little stomach acid. In Chinese medicine, they call this rebellious qi, right? It means that the body is pushing the energy up instead of down. And rebellious qi is really because the body doesn't have enough energy to push it down.

So it's trying to push it back out again. So when we have the right levels of hydrochloric acid, then the the chi, the energy will be pushing in the right direction because it has all the resources it needs to go down through digestion. So we want to really see if we're... Exposing ourselves to proton pump inhibitors, and it may not be because we have too much stomach acid, that can create a risk factor for bacteria coming in on our food as well. I started taking some apple cider vinegar.

So about 20 to 30 minutes before my biggest meal of the day, which for me was dinner time, I took a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. I diluted that in about one-third cup of warm water. Now, I like warm water because warm water is actually going to increase the gastric acid secretions in your stomach.

And it's the gastric acid that's going to in turn increase the hydrochloric acid production. Now, I wasn't ready for something like betaine hydrochloric acid, which is where you're actually giving your body hydrochloric acid because I had acid reflux at the time. That would have been like gasoline on the fire. So I started out with something more gentle and I didn't go right to one tablespoon at the start. I started with half of a teaspoon and one third cup of warm water.

And if you don't have warm water, that's fine. Just make sure it's clean water, filtered water, and then you drink that on an empty stomach. What the apple cider vinegar is going to do is, number one, even though it's acidic outside the body, it has a very strong alkalizing effect once you metabolize that. So it's going to help the digestive system because the gut is alkaline in nature. It's going to help your digestive enzymes.

But most important, what it's going to do is it's going to start to gently build up the hydrochloric acid so that, number one, we can kill off any pathogens coming there, right? It's not just about preventing food sensitivities. Your gut, your stomach, it's the first line of defense.

So if we have enough hydrochloric acid, food sensitivities go down. But if we don't have enough hydrochloric acid, that's when we get the food sensitivities. That's when we get malnutrition because now I could be eating the best organic strength eating diet in the world.

But if I'm not breaking down those foods and assimilating those foods, I'm not getting my nutrients into the cells. So here I am eating all the foods I think are healthy, but I'm exhausted. I'm chronically fatigued.

Why is that? Because I'm not getting the nutrition into the body, into the cells where it's needed most. And then the third thing that happens is, again, being the first line of defense, any toxin or more important, any stealth infection, stealth pathogen, that could be a parasite, that could be mold, that could be inflammatory bacteria, that could be candida, whatever it might be on its way down into the microbiome, into the stomach.

If we have sufficient levels of stomach acid, guess what happens? Boom, destroys it right there. One of the simplest things that I love is actually using bitters. And bitters is a whole category of botanicals.

It can include coffee, right? I mean, you know, a lot of people drink coffee. We think everyone wants it for like the caffeine and the stimulation, but I think there are a lot of people who love the feeling of having those bitter compounds, those alkaloids in their body because it activates lots of really important physiology, including our immune response.

So coffee is a bitter. Dark leafy greens are bitters. Orange zest, the zest of an orange, is a little bit bitter. And there are a lot of bitter kinds of herbs, even chamomile, hops.

There are numerous, numerous bitters. And in fact, many herbal companies and herbalists make bitter blends so that you can literally just... do drops or a spray in your mouth.

Even you can get things like Angostura bitters or like the kinds of bitters, Swedish bitters, things that you might get to put in mixed drinks. Those literally have a whole array of benefits. These bitter compounds stimulate the immune response in the gut and not just in the gut, but in the ear, nose, and throat.

So those are two areas, right? Our mouth and our ear, nose, and throat are... open to the outside world and sample all the different organisms and different kinds of things we might be exposed to. And so bitters actually stimulate our immune response, our non-specific immune response to virtually anything that might come our way, whether it be the new variant of the flu or COVID or strep throat.

So that's number one. And there are many different kinds of bitter foods and bitter specific kinds of botanicals. My approach to poor digestion, poor stomach acidity, poor enzyme production, is to introduce herbs that actually stimulate.

versus replace. And these herbs are bitter in nature. And when taken, they actually stimulate hydrochloric acid. They stimulate enzyme production.

They get the digestive juices flowing naturally without replacing them. And the herbs that I tend to use are things like artichoke leaf, dandelion root, angelica. These are some of the kind of common ones that are involved in most bitters compounds.

There's a lot of other bitters herbs out there. but these are ones that are most notable for a bitters blend. They really do stoke the fire.

So in my opinion, using a stoke the fire approach versus replacement is in the long term going to be a better pathway for healing because we're kickstarting our body to do what it should be doing. With someone that has digestive insufficiency, meaning they're not producing enough stomach acid or they're not producing enough enzymes, we might add a bitters compound into the mix. And that's going to be a blend of very bitter tasting herbs. Someone who's never taken a bitters compound before, it's actually very simple. Surprisingly, people who have never taken this before, when they take it for the first time, they say, actually, I really like it.

My body craves it. So that's telling me their body's actually responding very positively to the blend. And it's just taken a small amount, maybe a half a teaspoon and a little bit of water, five minutes before meals, 10 minutes before meals, just to get the juices flowing. And I even use it for people post-meal. Some people say, well, actually, sometimes I just feel really jammed up after I eat.

And I'm just take a little shot of bitters. It'll help move things through. And it does. It works very nicely for that.

It's a very simple intervention. And there are a couple of different brands out there that have very good blends of herbs in them. I would stay away from anything that has senna in them, though. Swedish bitters are known for having senna in them, which can lead to diarrhea if you're not experiencing constipation.

So just a straight classic bitters compound is great. And you can get started with that. Some of them come in a spray bottle. I have a spray in my purse. I just, you know, right before going out to eat just a couple of sprays and it just helps get things moving a little bit better.

So it's a really great intervention and it's super simple. Instead of doing bitters compound, we can also add bitter foods to our diet. Maybe someone's just a little bit sluggish in their digestion and need a little extra bump, but maybe the herbs can help.

aren't necessary. So I always encourage getting bitter foods into the diet. That comes from things like arugula or collard greens, broccoli rabe, things that you would imagine as bitter foods in your diet. And oftentimes in our society, we tend to shy away from those more bitter foods. We want to go for more of the savory and the sweet and the fatty, and that's fine.

Those are three of the five tastes that most of us are missing that bitter. component. And getting more bitter foods into our diet stimulates digestion. It helps with blood sugar control. It can reduce inflammation.

It improves bowel movements. So there's a whole host of reasons to just, in general, get more bitter foods into our diet. So one of my favorite supplements is bitters. Now, bitters don't have to be supplements. They can be food.

That's why I love it so much. But bitters have the ability to stimulate the digestive tract. to help to make enzymes, to make bile, to lubricate the digestive tract, and dramatically increase digestive capacity.

So I recommend them to all my clients, whether they have autoimmune disease or not. And one of the things that's super important, I'll go, okay, you can buy a little bottle of bitters and, or you can juice some bitter greens. And take a little bit and swish it around in your mouth before your meal.

Or you can chew on and become a human juicer some bitter greens and chew it while you're making your meal to help stimulate your digestive tract. People ask me, oh, they're so bitter. Can I put stevia in them? And I say, no, because that's the point.

It's the bitterness that the body perceives in the mouth that stimulates this amazing healing powers. Stimulates anti- inflammatory. It helps to stimulate the digestion better.

So even if the gut isn't repaired fully yet, you're not going to get these undigested proteins going into the bloodstream because they're going to be broken down. The foods that are bitter don't just have bitter taste. They have an amazing amount of nutrients in them and they can really stimulate your immune system.

They can stimulate your immune system. digestion. They can help support hormonal health because they're just loaded with antioxidants and nutrients that the body needs. And face it, most people don't eat enough vegetables. They don't like bitter.

other than chocolate. But they eat chocolate not when it's bitter, they eat it after it's been sweetened, right? So developing a taste for it takes some time, but bitter foods are your friend.

Some of my favorites are dandelion green. They are bitter. You're not going to take a lot, although I've developed such a taste for it I can eat a whole plate of dandelion greens.

But just munch on them right before your meal, make a little juice out of it, or there are tinctures that you can take of dandelion. incorporate it into your meal, right? Have it as an appetizer before your protein and before your carbohydrates. So it's going to help to digest it. Arugula, it's one of my favorites.

Not only is arugula awesome in terms of bitters, but it's really good for people who have oxalate sensitivities because it's virtually no oxalates in there. Plus it's a nitric. oxide stimulator and nitric oxide is a vasodilator.

So it's going to give you some cardiac benefits and some blood pressure benefits. So that's great. Some of the other herbs that are not maybe quite as bitter as that, but parsley, mustard greens.

So those are all the greens. And then, well, there's a lot of other greens. Kale is bitter.

There's in those salad mixes, there's one, I don't know what it's called, but it's very curly and it's in that salad mix and it's super, super bitter. So anything that you taste and go, ooh, that's really bitter, you can incorporate into your meals, especially if you're doing your salad before the main meal, it's going to help you digest. Citrus peel. Citrus peel is very bitter. In some of the bitter formulas, we have dandelion, we have orange peel, we have some of these other herbs that are bitter.

So the way you'd have to do that, because the citrus is sweet, so that's not going to do it for you, is you do the scraping of the peel. And then you can just mix it into your salad or your salad dressing. Just don't make the salad full of sweet stuff because that can counteract the effect on the digestive tract of the bitters.

So if you were to go to the health food store and say, I'm going to get some of these bitters she was talking about, there's a variety of them. You want to look for one that has no sugar in it or no sweetener, even if it's stevia or monk fruit or something like that. You don't want to have a sweetener in there because that'll counteract the effect of the bitters.

Most of them will have a little alcohol if it's a tincture. Alcohol just helps with the absorption. If you're an alcoholic or you're sensitive to alcohol in such a way, then you may avoid that.

You want to look for something that has a variety of herbs in it. So ones I like to look for are dandelion, orange peel. They don't usually have arugula in those, but they definitely I've seen a lot with dandelion and orange peel.

And then there's some other herbs that are bitter. And I'm off the top of my head, not remembering all of them. But there's warming bitters and cooling bitters, right? So if you tend to be a person that runs hot, then the cooling bitters tend to be good.

If you tend to be a person that runs cold, the warming bitters might be good. For those of you out there who are on this journey, especially if you're looking at an autoimmune condition that you're struggling to find remission, struggling to help. those symptoms and feel some relief, stay with it.

There's hope out there. Keep researching, keep looking for the practitioner that's going to work with you, that's going to be the right match, that'll help you address those root causes. It's not perfect. Autoimmunity is not easy to address and you're not alone.

This is a very common, unfortunately becoming more common subset of health conditions that's really growing in our society. So the more research that's being done on these conditions, the more we're learning as practitioners, the more that scientists are learning about how to address these conditions. So just really encourage you to give yourself that space, take the rest that you need and keep trying to find someone that can work with you on this, that understands autoimmunity and knows how to really look at the whole picture.

What an enlightening journey we've had in this fifth episode of The Gut. autoimmune solution. We've delved deep into the critical importance of bowel regularity and its profound impact on our overall health. We've explored the often uncomfortable but crucial topics of constipation, gas and bloating, uncovering strategies to find relief and support optimal digestive function. But our exploration of the gut autoimmune connection is far from over.

In our next episode, we'll be tackling a critical yet often overlooked piece of the autoimmune puzzle, environmental toxins. In episode six, we'll dive into the hidden toxins in our environment that may be contributing to autoimmune conditions. Most importantly, we'll discuss safe and effective strategies for detoxifying your body and environment.

This knowledge isn't just for those with health concerns. It's vital for anyone looking to safeguard their well-being. So, I'll see you there.

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Transcript for:Leaky Colon and Digestive Health Insights

Transcript for:
Leaky Colon and Digestive Health Insights