Digestive health Archives - Your body ~ Your brain ~ Your diet

Cut Down on Your Fruit and Vegetables

December 20, 2023February 13, 2024 MariaC coeliac disease, Crohn's, FODMAP, IBS, Irritable bowel syndrome, leaky brain, leaky gut, oxalates, SIBO

Sometimes I tell a client that they should remove much of the fruit and vegetable content from their diet. Plus all those beans, lentils, nuts and seeds they are convinced are the path to health and longevity. From their expression it is immediately clear that they are in a mild state of confusion and wondering what sort of nutritionist I am. I go on to explain my rationale, and they leave reassured.

About a week or so later, they get in touch to let me know just how much better they feel.

Digestive health

Got IBS? Why It Might Really Be Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

April 11, 2023April 11, 2023 MariaC hypochlorhydria, IBS, microbiome

I probably see more clients with IBS than anything else: approximately 10%-20% of people are affected. Despite having had a battery of tests, including colonoscopy, endoscopy, and blood assays for various diseases such as coeliac and Crohn’s, these people have rarely been offered a test for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). Yet up to 80% of people with IBS are estimated to have SIBO. If you don’t look for it, you won’t find it. So what is it?

Digestive health

Could Parasites be the Cause of Your Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

October 18, 2020September 1, 2022 MariaC Blastocystis hominis, comprehensive parasitology, Endolimax nana, Irritable bowel syndrome, metronidazole

If you have irritable bowel syndrome, you are familiar with the misery of abdominal pain, gas, bloating, diarrhoea, and/or constipation. It just so happens that these are also common symptoms of a gut parasite infection. If your symptoms have not responded to standard IBS treatment, taking a simple test may be the first step on the road to recovery.

Digestive health Feed Your Brain

How Your Gut Talks to Your Brain and Changes Your Mood

April 27, 2020September 1, 2022 MariaC Depression, gut microbiome, IBS, serotonin, SSRIs, tryptophan, vagus nerve

It is a curious fact that antidepressants are a common treatment for irritable bowel syndrome. But why give Prozac to someone with abdominal pain? Antidepressants work because the gut and brain are inextricably linked. What happens in the gut does not stay in the gut — it travels to the brain. More than half of all patients with IBS are affected by a mood disorder.

Digestive health Feed Your Brain

Your brains are in your belly, and that’s good for your mental health

November 2, 2018February 23, 2021 MariaC 0 Comments Antibiotics, enteric nervous system, fecal microbiota transplant, gut microbiota, microbiome, neurotoxicity

When you take antibiotics, you effectively destroy the good with the bad. The “friendly” bacteria that live in your gut are carpet-bombed, along with everything else.

You need good bacteria, not only to maintain your digestive and immune health but also your mental health. When you take antibiotics, you effectively destroy the good with the bad. The “friendly” bacteria that live in your gut are carpet-bombed, along with everything else.

Digestive health General health

Raw versus cooked: Which diet is the most nutritious?

November 1, 2018February 23, 2021 MariaC 0 Comments amenorrhoea, bone loss, infertility, malnutrition, omnivore, raw food, vegan

You don’t have to look too hard to find impressive lists of the many healing properties of a raw food diet. But you would have to look very hard to find any evidence. Instead, the evidence points to infertility, malnutrition and bone loss.

Digestive health Feed Your Brain

How gut bacteria can lift depression. Be sure to feed them well.

September 29, 2017February 23, 2021 MariaC 0 Comments adrenaline, anxiety, autism, autonomic nervous system, Bifidobacteria, brain chemistry, cruciferous, Depression, enteric nervous system, epinephrine, fermented foods, fibre, glucosinolates, Gut bacteria, gut-brain, Lactobacillus, neuroscience, neurotransmitter, prebiotics, probiotic bacteria, probiotics, psychobiotics, serotonin, stress, stress hormones, vagus nerve

The bacteria in your gut can profoundly affect the way you feel and the way you respond to stress. This ‘gut-brain’ is able to communicate with the head-brain along the vagus nerve. If you want your brain to work well, feed your bacteria well.

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