September 9, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode, Dr. Alfred Alessi goes into the foundations of functional medicine, beginning with an introduction to the new "Repair, Clear, and Thrive" challenge. They explore the complexities of gut health, emphasizing the microbiome's intricate functions and its vulnerability to modern life's impacts. The discussion highlights symptoms of gut dysfunction and the role of functional medicine testing in identifying these issues. Key topics include tests for gut dysfunction and the Five R gut healing protocol, which underscores gut healing as an ongoing process. The episode concludes by linking gut health to overall well-being, offering insights into foundational health practices.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You wouldn't go watch the first five minutes ofa movie, and then claim to you know know
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whether or not you like that movie, you needmore information you need a bigger picture,
right.
And so that's what functional medicine does isit gives us a bigger picture, and a broader
look at not just the symptoms, but the thingsat a microscopic level that could be
dysfunctional or going wrong.
Welcome to Health Decode, your number onesource for real health information with your
(00:27):
host doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
What if you could lower inflammation, heal yourgut, and feel incredible in just six weeks?
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(00:51):
people's gut.
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That's over $1,600 in value.
Register by September 1, and you'll also get afree functional medicine consultation with me
(01:14):
to personalize your plan.
Now spots are limited and registration closesSeptember 20.
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You have nothing to lose, except maybe somepounds, inflammation, gut dysfunction, but
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(01:34):
Go to a lesseefunctionalhealth.com/challenge tojoin the challenge.
And remember, your health is in your hands.
Welcome back to another episode of HealthDecoded.
I am your host, doctor Alessi.
And today, we are going to dive deep, literallydeep into your gut and, you know, the truth
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about gut health and ultimately that, you know,your gut is not just about digestion.
It is the control center for your immunesystem, your hormones, and even your brain.
If your gut's not right or is dysfunctional,then nothing else is.
And yet most people think that fixing guthealth is as simple as taking a probiotic.
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That's been obviously marketed to us lately isis probiotics are gonna fix all your problems.
But today we're going to go far beyond that andreally cover why your microbiome controls
everything the signs your gut is broken theadvanced testing that you're not getting at
your doctor's office and most importantly whatit takes to heal.
So let's get right into it.
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This is going to be broken up into the foursegments like we always do with every episode.
What is it?
Why is it important?
What symptoms might you be experiencing?
How to test for dysfunction, and then how toheal.
And so let's just get started and really talkabout what the gut is, right?
It's not just a digestive tube.
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It's one of the most complex ecosystems on theplanet.
And it houses over 100,000,000,000,000microbes, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and
archaea, which are different small types ofbacteria that are meant to thrive and kind of
live in this symbiotic relationship.
And the the kicker is there's actually morebacterial DNA sequences in your body than human
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DNA.
And so we're more of a walking petri dish.
We're walking around with more microbial, cellsthan we have human cells.
And that's not just a metaphor, that's actuallybiology.
And so, let's talk about what does themicrobiome do?
So, number one is digestion and nutrientabsorption.
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So, specific bacterial colonies or types ofbacteria within the gut do certain jobs, right?
They each have kind of a function.
And so without the right gut bugs, you're notbreaking down certain things like fibers,
carbohydrates, starches into short chain fattyacids like butyrate, which really is fuel for
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our colon cells, which can also keepinflammation down.
And so this is often the underlying trigger fora lot of people with things like IBS or Crohn's
or ulcerative colitis, those high inflammatorydiseases.
Hormone balance, so certain bacteria are goingto regulate metabolism of hormones, and they
will influence the thyroid hormone conversionfrom T4 to T3.
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And so if your gut is off, the hormones willsubsequently be off as well.
The immune system 70 to 80% of your immunecells sit right along the gut lining.
And that's the base of your immune systemstraining ground.
The first line of defense for anything thatcomes into your body, your immune system has to
be prepared.
And so when the microbiome is in balance, yourimmune system is able to determine the
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difference between what is friend and what isfoe.
Now, there's disruption, you can get thingslike autoimmunity, where now your immune system
is confused, and your body will begin to attackits own cells, because it's not sure what's
good, what's bad, and it's just overlyhyperactive your immune system.
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And then the gut also controls mood andcognition.
So, there's a term called the gut brain axis,which is basically this two way messaging
system between your gut and your brain.
And it, you know, controls secretion of thingslike neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine,
and GABA, which are produced in the large partof the gut.
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That's why leaky gut or dysbiosis often showsup first as things like brain fog, anxiety,
depression, mood issues, maybe loss of energyand that kind of vitality is because there's
something dysfunctional within our gutecosystem.
Now, was a journal, Nature Reviews Immunology2020 that was quoted saying disruptions in gut
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microbiota are directly linked to autoimmunedisease and chronic inflammation.
Now, is done, this is researched and published.
And so, you know, why is this happening?
Why are people so frequently having gut issuesin today's age?
And it's because modern life is very much toxicto the environment of our gut.
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Things like antibiotics, which are overlyprescribed, right?
Whether it's prescriptions or things that arebeing on our in our food, right?
Hidden in antibiotics in the food.
These are going to wipe out good bacteria.
Think of it like this, right?
You have a war going on and there's a villagethat has a bunch of bad guys in it and they're
there.
But there's also some civilians and peoplethere that are not the bad guys.
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If you just pour napalm over that village, itkills everything, right?
And that's basically what antibiotics do.
They go in and they just destroy everythingwithin the gut to fight the infection, but they
kill the bad guys, or the good guys too.
And so, basically, overuse of antibiotics,especially as a child, basically sets the stage
for people to have gut dysfunction, and thingslike autoimmunity later in life.
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And so that's one of the first questions weoften ask when we are treating patients or
working with patients with gut issues is, didyou have a history of antibiotic use as a
child?
And most often we did right that was just ifyou grew up in the 70s 80s 90s when these
things started coming out it was kind of likeoh just take this just take this just take this
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in.
It was prescribed as kind of like this magicpill without the thought of like what's coming
later on.
And so other things like glyphosate andpesticides, which are basically antimicrobials,
they can damage the gut as well and these areall over food and within food that we're
consuming on a daily basis.
Processed food and seed oils feed the badbacteria.
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So they actually are like fuel for thosepathogenic bacteria if those are present.
And then chronic stress, which can reduce ourvagal tone from the vagus nerve.
If you don't know what the vagus nerve is, goback and listen to the episode a few weeks back
where we talked all about vagal tone and howthat can influence health and our body's
ability to recover.
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And so, chronic stress reduces that vagal tone,which can slow the motility of our gut and
basically shift the bacterial balance towardsmore of a negative than a positive.
And so, there was a 2017 study done infrontiers in microbiology that showed stress
alone can shift your microbiome compositionwithin twenty four hours.
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So, they also show that a one poor night'ssleep can really over, overstress the gut and
lead to this kind of dysfunction within twentyfour hours or within the next day.
And so your gut is really like think of it likeground zero for your health.
If you ignore it, you're setting yourself upfor things like IBS, depression, thyroid
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disease, autoimmunity, even like dementia laterin life.
Because it is again, the first line of defensefor your immune system, your body's healing.
And so let's get into a little bit of like whatto expect or what to look for.
Now, obviously, the major things like we are Ialready discussed IBS, major gut issues and
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sensitivities.
But let's talk a little bit also about some ofthe ones that are a little less known.
And so now I've kind of laid for you thefoundation of why why your gut matters, why
it's important.
Let's talk about what happens like when itbreaks down, and what you should look for.
Because you could be having normal bowelmovements, oh, everything's fine, but you could
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still have an out of balance microbiome.
And so the more classic symptoms are going tobe things like digestive stuff, bloating, gas,
constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux.
Very common ones that we see are things likeeczema, acne, psoriasis or chronic rashes that
won't go away.
Brain fog, headaches, poor concentration, moodswings that we discussed.
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And then, your immune system, right?
If we're constantly having frequent colds, orwe have allergies, or these autoimmune flares
like psoriasis.
And then, in the metabolic range, fatigue,weight gain, blood sugar swings, all of these
can be related to an imbalance in themicrobiome.
And so, there was a study in the clinicalreviews in allergy and immunology in 2019 that
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said increased intestinal permeability, or whatwe call leaky gut is directly associated with
autoimmune conditions, IBS, and chronic fatiguesyndrome.
And so a lot of these things if you're going tojust a, you know conventional medicine doctor
with those types of issues, they're rarelyaddressing the gut and they're just going to
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prescribe some type of medication to helpmanage the symptoms when at the root cause it
really is a dysfunction in the gut And thenthose prescription medications end up making
the problem worse over time.
And so, you know, some of the hidden things wesee, right?
And so, those are more of the common ones.
Some of the hidden things we're going to see isthings like leaky gut, right?
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This one's hard for people to get their mindaround and really be able to nail down like,
okay, like, is that what I'm experiencing?
Is it not?
And so we use specific tests for this.
But basically, what leaky gut is, is think ofyour gut lining as like having this layer
that's closed.
And over time, the gaps can get wider and getweakened by inflammation, which can allow
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toxins, food particles and bacteria to get intothe bloodstream, which triggers your immune
system and inflammation.
We also see things like SIBO, which is smallintestinal bacterial overgrowth.
Basically, having bacteria that migrate intothe small intestine from the large intestine,
which can lead to things like bloating, yourbody not absorbing food malabsorption, IBS like
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symptoms, where we just have like irritabilityall the time.
We also see things like candida and fungusovergrowth, which is basically candida is an
opportunistic yeast that can develop.
It can lead to things like craving is of sugar,fatigue, it can lead to brain fog.
And overall just that feeling of you know,you're not feeling a 100%.
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And then, something that we're seeing a lotmore of these days are things like parasites.
And it's not just a third world problem.
You know, travel yes is a is a large way peopleget that they go to other countries they
consume things they can develop parasites butundercooked food people who consume a lot of
sushi contaminated water.
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I actually just read a study that was sayingpeople who live with pets in the home, if the
pets are not clean, then that can lead toobviously us being exposed to things like that
as well.
And having parasites.
And so there was a study in gut microbes 2021that that was quoted saying dysbiosis of the
gut microbiota contributes to systemicinflammation and plays a causal role in
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development of obesity, insulin resistance, anddepression.
So again, if we're seeing any of thesediagnosed conditions, diabetes, obesity, people
having like anxiety and high stress, I'mlooking to the gut 10 out of 10 times because
again, ground zero, this is the first line ofdefense.
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And so, some of the red flags you you will wantto look for right if you're experiencing any of
these things you need to check your gut.
Do you react to more and more foods over timelike as oh as I've gotten older, I'm more
sensitive to certain foods.
Do you feel inflamed like your whole body hurtsor your whole body is is stiffness and achy and
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sore.
But you can't really like pinpoint why.
And then do you struggle with fatigue rightevery day you crash, no matter how much
caffeine you drink you drink three four cups ofcoffee, but you still just can't get that
energy back.
These are hallmark signs that your gut is notfunctioning properly, and your immune and
metabolic gatekeeper is basically workingovertime.
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And so, you know, if your symptoms feel likethey're everywhere, right?
Their brain, skin, hormones, it all comes backto the gut.
And so we need to calm the storm to get to theroot cause of that problem.
So now let's get to, we talked about what itis, you know, kind of what you can experience
or what you might be looking for red flags.
Now let's talk about how we test fordysfunction or dysbiosis.
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Now back to the episode.
Alright, welcome back.
Let's get into how functional medicine testsfor gut dysfunction and some of the things that
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we use on a daily basis within our clinics.
So here's where functional medicine takes acompletely different path than the conventional
care approach.
So, know, you were to walk into your primarycare office with gut complaints, they're
probably going to number one want to do acolonoscopy or maybe they're going to test for
H pylori because those are the main big onesthat they know what to do with.
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And so if those come back clear, then they'regoing to just tell you you're fine.
But the truth is, you can have massivedysfunction at the microbiome immune or even
that leaky gut level and standard tests willmiss it every time.
So it all goes back to what we always talkabout.
You wouldn't go watch the first five minutes ofa movie and then claim to you know know whether
(17:05):
or not you like that movie.
You need more information you need a biggerpicture, right?
And so, that's what functional medicine does isit gives us a bigger picture and a broader look
at not just the symptoms, but the things at amicroscopic level that could be dysfunctional
or going wrong.
And so, let's talk about basically the the maintests we will use to analyze the gut, decipher
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what's going on, obviously, and then that willguide us on how we can heal and fix it.
And so, number one is is usually going to be azonulin or intestinal permeability test.
And I will tell you right now that ninety ninepercent of the time if I'm testing someone for
this, I'm getting a positive leaky gutdiagnosis.
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And it's because the symptoms of leaky gut areoften so accurate that if somebody comes in and
they're saying all these things, we run thistest.
It's really a confirmation, but it's going toobviously number one confirm it for us, but
then allow us to make the right steps.
And so we'll get into that here in a sec.
But basically, what that is is zonulin is aprotein that regulates those tight junctions in
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the gut and how close the cells are to eachother, which again, prevents that leakiness of
things getting into the bloodstream.
And so, this test, it confirms whether or notsomeone has leaky gut.
And so, the next one we would look into, right?
And often we're going to run together.
The intestinal permeability test is a serumtest looking for those antibodies.
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But the next one is a stool analysis, acomprehensive stool analysis.
This can measure bacterial balance.
It can measure pathogenic organisms, parasites,yeast, and even viruses that could be in the
stool or in the gut, right?
And so, it reports on short chain fatty acidsas well.
These are SCFAs, which are critical for gut andimmune health.
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And so you probably heard of those before butnot really sure what they are.
Basically, these are what are broken down bywhen your when your gut breaks down fiber it
produces these, and those are important forhealing.
Now, it also is going to screen for IGAmarkers, which are markers of gut inflammation.
And so, these two tests are going to be prettymuch an every single time somebody comes in
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with these types of issues.
And then the next one which is called anorganic acids test, we're running this one a
lot as well.
And so this measures the metabolites that arekicked off when your body if your body has
yeast, fungi or bacteria tells us if there'sany type of hidden overgrowth that we need to
look into as well.
It also tests for your mitochondrial function,as well as if your body is detoxing or having
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limited detoxification production.
And so it's actually a really great testbecause it gives us a pretty broad picture and
paint and goes a little bit deeper than theothers.
The next one will be a food sensitivity panelvery often we're going to run this with a leaky
gut test because it's like, okay, yeah, youhave leaky gut.
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Now, why is that?
Well, your body has sensitivities to gluten,dairy, eggs, meat, whatever it might be that
are triggering that inflammation causing theleaky gut.
And so again, when we get into what we're goingto talk about with the corrective protocol of
like our five hours, number one is alwaysremoving and so you have to remove the things
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that are causing damage.
And so we would run that test along with theleaky gut test.
And then some other add ons that we would wantto see is maybe like, you know, you can do a
SIBO breath test, but the stool test is goingto tell us if there's SIBO.
A comprehensive nutrient panel is great.
Is your body absorbing, you know, any of thevitamins that you should be so that will tell
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us as well.
And then a mycotoxin test is awesome as well tosee if there's any mold exposure, or you know,
because toxins, they can impair the gut liningas well as the microbiome and create that
imbalance.
And so, as always, you know, we're looking formore than just a diagnosis, right?
Like more than just, you have this.
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We want to know why we want to know at a very,very myopic level, like, what is the cause of
it?
Because then we know what we can do to fix it.
If I just have a piece of the picture, then I'mguessing and we're really just taking shots in
the dark.
People end up wasting a lot of time, a lot ofmoney, and they end up very frustrated because
they still didn't fix the problem that theycame in with.
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And so, you know, with the data, we can buildprecision protocols that aren't just focused on
your symptoms, they're going to rebuild gutresilience from the inside out.
There was an awesome study in the IntegrativeMedicine Clinic Journal 2019.
Functional lab testing identifies subclinicalgut dysfunction that standard GI tests miss,
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leading to earlier interventions and thusbetter outcomes.
And so that's awesome because, you know, ifbloated, you're fatigued, you're inflamed, but
your doctor told you that everything was normalbecause you had a basic test done, It's not
because nothing's wrong, you're not crazy.
It's because you didn't look deep enough or inthe right place.
And so you have to get the full picture.
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And honestly, this is exactly why we createdthe Alessi Total Care Program, because testing
without a plan doesn't fix anything either.
So, you can have all the data in the world, butif you don't know what to do with it, you're
still in the same boat.
And so, with Total Care, we go beyond standardlabs.
We combine advanced functional medicine labtesting with personalized nutrition, doctor
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grade nutraceuticals, lifestyle coaching aswell as follow-up care.
So you're not just guessing but your body isactually healing.
And then the best part is you're not doing italone.
We have a whole team that's going to guide youstep by step through the results of your labs,
prescribing protocols and then giving youlifestyle and habit techniques that you can do
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for life to then proactively stay ahead ofproblems in the future.
And so, if you're ready to stop, you know, justtreating symptoms, and you actually want to
start fixing the root cause, I would encourageyou to go visit alessifunctionalhealth.com
slash TotalCare, and you can learn more aboutthis program and see if it's a good fit for
you.
Now, let's get into the final piece here, whichis what we call the five R gut healing
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protocol.
And so we've discussed this before on previousepisodes, but I just want to get in a little
bit more detail here.
And this should paint a really good picture foryou as to the ideal way to correct some of
these imbalances that we just discussed.
And so we discussed, you know, the gut, what itis, what are the warning signs to look for, and
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then how you test for dysfunction.
Now let's get into solutions.
So this is what we call the five R protocol.
And it's really a framework, you know,everybody's going to have a different ish
variation of this depending on if they havedifferent food sensitivities, what might be
going on within the gut microbiome.
But ultimately, this is going to be theframework we follow.
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And so, step one is the first R remove.
So, need to remove inflammatory foods, gluten,dairy, refined sugar, alcohol, highly processed
seed oils.
We're going to remove any infections orovergrowths like parasites, candida, SIBO.
We target these with specific herbs, thingslike oregano oil and berberine, and any anti
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parasitics if needed.
And then we want to remove environmentaltoxins.
So reducing exposure to pesticides, or thingswithin our personal care products that we might
be putting on our body that are leading totoxicity, and thus inflammation.
And so there was a great quote out of clinicalreviews in allergy and immunology in 2019, That
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said removing dietary triggers significantlyreduced intestinal permeability and
inflammation.
So again, before we can do anything else, weneed to remove what's causing damage in the
first place.
And so, step two, replace.
So we need to support what's missing indigestion.
And so, we use digestive enzymes which aregoing to help your body to break down carbs,
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proteins, fats, things like betaine HCL, whichis hydrochloric acid, which can improve stomach
acid to further support protein breakdown.
We use things like bile salts, bitters, whichare going to help your body to absorb things
like the fatty acids that you're taking in, andultimately improve the ability for your body to
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function before we start now pushing thingslike probiotics.
And so then that takes us into step three,which is the third R, reinoculate.
And so now we want to basically rebuild a veryhealthy and diverse microbiome.
So we use probiotics that contain multiplestrains that have, you know, we can fill in the
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gaps of where you're deficient.
So what we've specifically tested, you'relacking in these markers, we can build those
back up.
We use things like prebiotics, fibers fromfoods like asparagus, onions, and then certain
supplements as well, as well as using fermentedfoods.
You know, food is medicine.
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And so if we can use things like sauerkraut,kimchi, kefir is a great one to provide some
healthy probiotic bacteria to the gut torebuild those colonies.
And so there was a quote out of the gutmicrobes journal 2022, targeted probiotic
therapy reduced markers of leaky gut andsystemic inflammation in four weeks.
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And so people think this is going to be somelifelong journey.
You know, we see great turnaround within thefirst few months of symptoms.
Obviously, the full remission and healing takesa little bit of time, right, often six to
twelve months.
But as far as symptomatology based, peopleusually start to feel better pretty soon.
And so step four is now the fourth R repair.
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And so we've got some more beneficial bacteriawithin the gut.
Now we want to heal that gut lining, right?
If we had the leaky gut and it was damaged, weuse specific nutrients, things like L
glutamine, which is basically fuel for thecells in your intestines.
Zinc carnosine, which tightens those junctionsand can repair, as well as collagen peptides,
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bone broth, and things like omega-three fattyacids to reduce the inflammation.
And so peptides are becoming a lot more usedfor these types of things.
Specifically, the BPC-one 157 is basically gutacid peptide.
And so if we take it orally instead of aninjection, the oral dose goes to the gut and it
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can actually start to heal that gut tissue aswell.
It's pretty awesome.
And then the fifth R is going to be therebalancing.
And so this is where we focus on more of thelong term lifestyle approach.
But also given you kind of like, here's thekeys to the city, right?
You have the tools now that it takes to keepthis healthy.
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Now, you just need to maintain that lifestyle.
And so, we focus on things like stressmanagement, breath work, meditation, right?
Because we talked about how stress can wreckthe gut.
So, you don't want to do all this work tocorrect your problem and fix your gut, and then
go back to the stressful lifestyle that youwere in that wrecked it in the first place.
We focus on sleep, right?
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Because sleep is very important for a balancedcircadian rhythm, which directly impacts the
diversity of flora in your gut.
And then movement, exercise, as well as, youknow, maintaining a healthy diet are going to
be paramount as well for maintaining thatmicrobiome diversity long term.
And people can take things like probiotics longterm.
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It's there's no negatives to that if you needto, but ultimately you don't have to either if
you're eating diverse and maintaining a levelof, you know, diversity within your diet and
exercise as well.
And so, know, the biggest takeaway here foreverybody is that gut healing isn't a pill.
It's not something you're going to go get fromyour primary care doc and it's going to fix
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your problem like that.
Unfortunately, I do wish it worked that way.
But it is a process.
And so, we have found a way or created a way tomake that process, you know, easier for people
to incorporate into their daily life.
Because that's often the hardest part is peoplewant to fix their problem, but the amount of
effort and work and consistency it takes, Wejust we don't have time for that right?
(29:39):
We don't have a time in our busy schedule inour life to do something like that.
But we take that into account because we'rebusy.
I'm busy.
I have kids.
Have I have life, you know, a business, all ofthat.
And so we want to be able to find a way thatmakes it work for you.
And so, everything is personalized.
We build lifestyle plans, and we get reallygreat results because we're able to focus on
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the person as a whole, including everything,Their lifestyle, their family, all of that, and
not just focus on their symptoms and theirissue.
And so, you know, you're building really afoundation for your immune system, your
hormones, your mood, and then longevity,whatever that looks like for you.
So, you would like to learn more about how wehelp to diagnose, reverse, and heal gut
(30:23):
dysfunction within our functional medicineprograms, go to a lesseefunctionalhealth.com
schedule a consultation with me or one of ourother providers.
Let's create a personalized plan for lifelonghealth.
Listeners of the show, you're always going toget exclusive discounts and reductions on
price, on any protocols, lab tests, or anythingelse.
(30:43):
And so just be sure to mention to us where youheard about us.
And as always, if you found value in this show,please like, subscribe to our channels, and
share this with someone who you think needs tohear it.
That's how we can grow the message and helpchange more lives and help more people.
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(31:07):
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(31:30):
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Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember,your health is in your hands.
You wouldn't go watch the first five minutes ofa movie, and then claim to you know know
(00:05):
whether or not you like that movie, you needmore information you need a bigger picture,
right.
And so that's what functional medicine does isit gives us a bigger picture, and a broader
look at not just the symptoms, but the thingsat a microscopic level that could be
dysfunctional or going wrong.
Welcome to Health Decode, your number onesource for real health information with your
(00:27):
host doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
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Go to a lesseefunctionalhealth.com/challenge tojoin the challenge.
And remember, your health is in your hands.
Welcome back to another episode of HealthDecoded.
I am your host, doctor Alessi.
And today, we are going to dive deep, literallydeep into your gut and, you know, the truth
(01:57):
about gut health and ultimately that, you know,your gut is not just about digestion.
It is the control center for your immunesystem, your hormones, and even your brain.
If your gut's not right or is dysfunctional,then nothing else is.
And yet most people think that fixing guthealth is as simple as taking a probiotic.
(02:18):
That's been obviously marketed to us lately isis probiotics are gonna fix all your problems.
But today we're going to go far beyond that andreally cover why your microbiome controls
everything the signs your gut is broken theadvanced testing that you're not getting at
your doctor's office and most importantly whatit takes to heal.
So let's get right into it.
(02:40):
This is going to be broken up into the foursegments like we always do with every episode.
What is it?
Why is it important?
What symptoms might you be experiencing?
How to test for dysfunction, and then how toheal.
And so let's just get started and really talkabout what the gut is, right?
It's not just a digestive tube.
(03:00):
It's one of the most complex ecosystems on theplanet.
And it houses over 100,000,000,000,000microbes, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and
archaea, which are different small types ofbacteria that are meant to thrive and kind of
live in this symbiotic relationship.
And the the kicker is there's actually morebacterial DNA sequences in your body than human
(03:26):
DNA.
And so we're more of a walking petri dish.
We're walking around with more microbial, cellsthan we have human cells.
And that's not just a metaphor, that's actuallybiology.
And so, let's talk about what does themicrobiome do?
So, number one is digestion and nutrientabsorption.
(03:48):
So, specific bacterial colonies or types ofbacteria within the gut do certain jobs, right?
They each have kind of a function.
And so without the right gut bugs, you're notbreaking down certain things like fibers,
carbohydrates, starches into short chain fattyacids like butyrate, which really is fuel for
(04:10):
our colon cells, which can also keepinflammation down.
And so this is often the underlying trigger fora lot of people with things like IBS or Crohn's
or ulcerative colitis, those high inflammatorydiseases.
Hormone balance, so certain bacteria are goingto regulate metabolism of hormones, and they
will influence the thyroid hormone conversionfrom T4 to T3.
(04:35):
And so if your gut is off, the hormones willsubsequently be off as well.
The immune system 70 to 80% of your immunecells sit right along the gut lining.
And that's the base of your immune systemstraining ground.
The first line of defense for anything thatcomes into your body, your immune system has to
be prepared.
And so when the microbiome is in balance, yourimmune system is able to determine the
(04:59):
difference between what is friend and what isfoe.
Now, there's disruption, you can get thingslike autoimmunity, where now your immune system
is confused, and your body will begin to attackits own cells, because it's not sure what's
good, what's bad, and it's just overlyhyperactive your immune system.
(05:21):
And then the gut also controls mood andcognition.
So, there's a term called the gut brain axis,which is basically this two way messaging
system between your gut and your brain.
And it, you know, controls secretion of thingslike neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine,
and GABA, which are produced in the large partof the gut.
(05:42):
That's why leaky gut or dysbiosis often showsup first as things like brain fog, anxiety,
depression, mood issues, maybe loss of energyand that kind of vitality is because there's
something dysfunctional within our gutecosystem.
Now, was a journal, Nature Reviews Immunology2020 that was quoted saying disruptions in gut
(06:05):
microbiota are directly linked to autoimmunedisease and chronic inflammation.
Now, is done, this is researched and published.
And so, you know, why is this happening?
Why are people so frequently having gut issuesin today's age?
And it's because modern life is very much toxicto the environment of our gut.
(06:27):
Things like antibiotics, which are overlyprescribed, right?
Whether it's prescriptions or things that arebeing on our in our food, right?
Hidden in antibiotics in the food.
These are going to wipe out good bacteria.
Think of it like this, right?
You have a war going on and there's a villagethat has a bunch of bad guys in it and they're
there.
But there's also some civilians and peoplethere that are not the bad guys.
(06:51):
If you just pour napalm over that village, itkills everything, right?
And that's basically what antibiotics do.
They go in and they just destroy everythingwithin the gut to fight the infection, but they
kill the bad guys, or the good guys too.
And so, basically, overuse of antibiotics,especially as a child, basically sets the stage
for people to have gut dysfunction, and thingslike autoimmunity later in life.
(07:15):
And so that's one of the first questions weoften ask when we are treating patients or
working with patients with gut issues is, didyou have a history of antibiotic use as a
child?
And most often we did right that was just ifyou grew up in the 70s 80s 90s when these
things started coming out it was kind of likeoh just take this just take this just take this
(07:35):
in.
It was prescribed as kind of like this magicpill without the thought of like what's coming
later on.
And so other things like glyphosate andpesticides, which are basically antimicrobials,
they can damage the gut as well and these areall over food and within food that we're
consuming on a daily basis.
Processed food and seed oils feed the badbacteria.
(07:59):
So they actually are like fuel for thosepathogenic bacteria if those are present.
And then chronic stress, which can reduce ourvagal tone from the vagus nerve.
If you don't know what the vagus nerve is, goback and listen to the episode a few weeks back
where we talked all about vagal tone and howthat can influence health and our body's
ability to recover.
(08:20):
And so, chronic stress reduces that vagal tone,which can slow the motility of our gut and
basically shift the bacterial balance towardsmore of a negative than a positive.
And so, there was a 2017 study done infrontiers in microbiology that showed stress
alone can shift your microbiome compositionwithin twenty four hours.
(08:42):
So, they also show that a one poor night'ssleep can really over, overstress the gut and
lead to this kind of dysfunction within twentyfour hours or within the next day.
And so your gut is really like think of it likeground zero for your health.
If you ignore it, you're setting yourself upfor things like IBS, depression, thyroid
(09:04):
disease, autoimmunity, even like dementia laterin life.
Because it is again, the first line of defensefor your immune system, your body's healing.
And so let's get into a little bit of like whatto expect or what to look for.
Now, obviously, the major things like we are Ialready discussed IBS, major gut issues and
(09:29):
sensitivities.
But let's talk a little bit also about some ofthe ones that are a little less known.
And so now I've kind of laid for you thefoundation of why why your gut matters, why
it's important.
Let's talk about what happens like when itbreaks down, and what you should look for.
Because you could be having normal bowelmovements, oh, everything's fine, but you could
(09:50):
still have an out of balance microbiome.
And so the more classic symptoms are going tobe things like digestive stuff, bloating, gas,
constipation, diarrhea, acid reflux.
Very common ones that we see are things likeeczema, acne, psoriasis or chronic rashes that
won't go away.
Brain fog, headaches, poor concentration, moodswings that we discussed.
(10:16):
And then, your immune system, right?
If we're constantly having frequent colds, orwe have allergies, or these autoimmune flares
like psoriasis.
And then, in the metabolic range, fatigue,weight gain, blood sugar swings, all of these
can be related to an imbalance in themicrobiome.
And so, there was a study in the clinicalreviews in allergy and immunology in 2019 that
(10:39):
said increased intestinal permeability, or whatwe call leaky gut is directly associated with
autoimmune conditions, IBS, and chronic fatiguesyndrome.
And so a lot of these things if you're going tojust a, you know conventional medicine doctor
with those types of issues, they're rarelyaddressing the gut and they're just going to
(11:01):
prescribe some type of medication to helpmanage the symptoms when at the root cause it
really is a dysfunction in the gut And thenthose prescription medications end up making
the problem worse over time.
And so, you know, some of the hidden things wesee, right?
And so, those are more of the common ones.
Some of the hidden things we're going to see isthings like leaky gut, right?
(11:21):
This one's hard for people to get their mindaround and really be able to nail down like,
okay, like, is that what I'm experiencing?
Is it not?
And so we use specific tests for this.
But basically, what leaky gut is, is think ofyour gut lining as like having this layer
that's closed.
And over time, the gaps can get wider and getweakened by inflammation, which can allow
(11:46):
toxins, food particles and bacteria to get intothe bloodstream, which triggers your immune
system and inflammation.
We also see things like SIBO, which is smallintestinal bacterial overgrowth.
Basically, having bacteria that migrate intothe small intestine from the large intestine,
which can lead to things like bloating, yourbody not absorbing food malabsorption, IBS like
(12:11):
symptoms, where we just have like irritabilityall the time.
We also see things like candida and fungusovergrowth, which is basically candida is an
opportunistic yeast that can develop.
It can lead to things like craving is of sugar,fatigue, it can lead to brain fog.
And overall just that feeling of you know,you're not feeling a 100%.
(12:34):
And then, something that we're seeing a lotmore of these days are things like parasites.
And it's not just a third world problem.
You know, travel yes is a is a large way peopleget that they go to other countries they
consume things they can develop parasites butundercooked food people who consume a lot of
sushi contaminated water.
(12:55):
I actually just read a study that was sayingpeople who live with pets in the home, if the
pets are not clean, then that can lead toobviously us being exposed to things like that
as well.
And having parasites.
And so there was a study in gut microbes 2021that that was quoted saying dysbiosis of the
gut microbiota contributes to systemicinflammation and plays a causal role in
(13:19):
development of obesity, insulin resistance, anddepression.
So again, if we're seeing any of thesediagnosed conditions, diabetes, obesity, people
having like anxiety and high stress, I'mlooking to the gut 10 out of 10 times because
again, ground zero, this is the first line ofdefense.
(13:40):
And so, some of the red flags you you will wantto look for right if you're experiencing any of
these things you need to check your gut.
Do you react to more and more foods over timelike as oh as I've gotten older, I'm more
sensitive to certain foods.
Do you feel inflamed like your whole body hurtsor your whole body is is stiffness and achy and
(14:00):
sore.
But you can't really like pinpoint why.
And then do you struggle with fatigue rightevery day you crash, no matter how much
caffeine you drink you drink three four cups ofcoffee, but you still just can't get that
energy back.
These are hallmark signs that your gut is notfunctioning properly, and your immune and
metabolic gatekeeper is basically workingovertime.
(14:22):
And so, you know, if your symptoms feel likethey're everywhere, right?
Their brain, skin, hormones, it all comes backto the gut.
And so we need to calm the storm to get to theroot cause of that problem.
So now let's get to, we talked about what itis, you know, kind of what you can experience
or what you might be looking for red flags.
Now let's talk about how we test fordysfunction or dysbiosis.
(14:46):
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Now back to the episode.
Alright, welcome back.
Let's get into how functional medicine testsfor gut dysfunction and some of the things that
(16:20):
we use on a daily basis within our clinics.
So here's where functional medicine takes acompletely different path than the conventional
care approach.
So, know, you were to walk into your primarycare office with gut complaints, they're
probably going to number one want to do acolonoscopy or maybe they're going to test for
H pylori because those are the main big onesthat they know what to do with.
(16:43):
And so if those come back clear, then they'regoing to just tell you you're fine.
But the truth is, you can have massivedysfunction at the microbiome immune or even
that leaky gut level and standard tests willmiss it every time.
So it all goes back to what we always talkabout.
You wouldn't go watch the first five minutes ofa movie and then claim to you know know whether
(17:05):
or not you like that movie.
You need more information you need a biggerpicture, right?
And so, that's what functional medicine does isit gives us a bigger picture and a broader look
at not just the symptoms, but the things at amicroscopic level that could be dysfunctional
or going wrong.
And so, let's talk about basically the the maintests we will use to analyze the gut, decipher
(17:31):
what's going on, obviously, and then that willguide us on how we can heal and fix it.
And so, number one is is usually going to be azonulin or intestinal permeability test.
And I will tell you right now that ninety ninepercent of the time if I'm testing someone for
this, I'm getting a positive leaky gutdiagnosis.
(17:53):
And it's because the symptoms of leaky gut areoften so accurate that if somebody comes in and
they're saying all these things, we run thistest.
It's really a confirmation, but it's going toobviously number one confirm it for us, but
then allow us to make the right steps.
And so we'll get into that here in a sec.
But basically, what that is is zonulin is aprotein that regulates those tight junctions in
(18:17):
the gut and how close the cells are to eachother, which again, prevents that leakiness of
things getting into the bloodstream.
And so, this test, it confirms whether or notsomeone has leaky gut.
And so, the next one we would look into, right?
And often we're going to run together.
The intestinal permeability test is a serumtest looking for those antibodies.
(18:40):
But the next one is a stool analysis, acomprehensive stool analysis.
This can measure bacterial balance.
It can measure pathogenic organisms, parasites,yeast, and even viruses that could be in the
stool or in the gut, right?
And so, it reports on short chain fatty acidsas well.
These are SCFAs, which are critical for gut andimmune health.
(19:04):
And so you probably heard of those before butnot really sure what they are.
Basically, these are what are broken down bywhen your when your gut breaks down fiber it
produces these, and those are important forhealing.
Now, it also is going to screen for IGAmarkers, which are markers of gut inflammation.
And so, these two tests are going to be prettymuch an every single time somebody comes in
(19:29):
with these types of issues.
And then the next one which is called anorganic acids test, we're running this one a
lot as well.
And so this measures the metabolites that arekicked off when your body if your body has
yeast, fungi or bacteria tells us if there'sany type of hidden overgrowth that we need to
look into as well.
It also tests for your mitochondrial function,as well as if your body is detoxing or having
(19:55):
limited detoxification production.
And so it's actually a really great testbecause it gives us a pretty broad picture and
paint and goes a little bit deeper than theothers.
The next one will be a food sensitivity panelvery often we're going to run this with a leaky
gut test because it's like, okay, yeah, youhave leaky gut.
(20:15):
Now, why is that?
Well, your body has sensitivities to gluten,dairy, eggs, meat, whatever it might be that
are triggering that inflammation causing theleaky gut.
And so again, when we get into what we're goingto talk about with the corrective protocol of
like our five hours, number one is alwaysremoving and so you have to remove the things
(20:36):
that are causing damage.
And so we would run that test along with theleaky gut test.
And then some other add ons that we would wantto see is maybe like, you know, you can do a
SIBO breath test, but the stool test is goingto tell us if there's SIBO.
A comprehensive nutrient panel is great.
Is your body absorbing, you know, any of thevitamins that you should be so that will tell
(20:57):
us as well.
And then a mycotoxin test is awesome as well tosee if there's any mold exposure, or you know,
because toxins, they can impair the gut liningas well as the microbiome and create that
imbalance.
And so, as always, you know, we're looking formore than just a diagnosis, right?
Like more than just, you have this.
(21:18):
We want to know why we want to know at a very,very myopic level, like, what is the cause of
it?
Because then we know what we can do to fix it.
If I just have a piece of the picture, then I'mguessing and we're really just taking shots in
the dark.
People end up wasting a lot of time, a lot ofmoney, and they end up very frustrated because
they still didn't fix the problem that theycame in with.
(21:39):
And so, you know, with the data, we can buildprecision protocols that aren't just focused on
your symptoms, they're going to rebuild gutresilience from the inside out.
There was an awesome study in the IntegrativeMedicine Clinic Journal 2019.
Functional lab testing identifies subclinicalgut dysfunction that standard GI tests miss,
(22:01):
leading to earlier interventions and thusbetter outcomes.
And so that's awesome because, you know, ifbloated, you're fatigued, you're inflamed, but
your doctor told you that everything was normalbecause you had a basic test done, It's not
because nothing's wrong, you're not crazy.
It's because you didn't look deep enough or inthe right place.
And so you have to get the full picture.
(22:22):
And honestly, this is exactly why we createdthe Alessi Total Care Program, because testing
without a plan doesn't fix anything either.
So, you can have all the data in the world, butif you don't know what to do with it, you're
still in the same boat.
And so, with Total Care, we go beyond standardlabs.
We combine advanced functional medicine labtesting with personalized nutrition, doctor
(22:44):
grade nutraceuticals, lifestyle coaching aswell as follow-up care.
So you're not just guessing but your body isactually healing.
And then the best part is you're not doing italone.
We have a whole team that's going to guide youstep by step through the results of your labs,
prescribing protocols and then giving youlifestyle and habit techniques that you can do
(23:05):
for life to then proactively stay ahead ofproblems in the future.
And so, if you're ready to stop, you know, justtreating symptoms, and you actually want to
start fixing the root cause, I would encourageyou to go visit alessifunctionalhealth.com
slash TotalCare, and you can learn more aboutthis program and see if it's a good fit for
you.
Now, let's get into the final piece here, whichis what we call the five R gut healing
(23:30):
protocol.
And so we've discussed this before on previousepisodes, but I just want to get in a little
bit more detail here.
And this should paint a really good picture foryou as to the ideal way to correct some of
these imbalances that we just discussed.
And so we discussed, you know, the gut, what itis, what are the warning signs to look for, and
(23:51):
then how you test for dysfunction.
Now let's get into solutions.
So this is what we call the five R protocol.
And it's really a framework, you know,everybody's going to have a different ish
variation of this depending on if they havedifferent food sensitivities, what might be
going on within the gut microbiome.
But ultimately, this is going to be theframework we follow.
(24:12):
And so, step one is the first R remove.
So, need to remove inflammatory foods, gluten,dairy, refined sugar, alcohol, highly processed
seed oils.
We're going to remove any infections orovergrowths like parasites, candida, SIBO.
We target these with specific herbs, thingslike oregano oil and berberine, and any anti
(24:34):
parasitics if needed.
And then we want to remove environmentaltoxins.
So reducing exposure to pesticides, or thingswithin our personal care products that we might
be putting on our body that are leading totoxicity, and thus inflammation.
And so there was a great quote out of clinicalreviews in allergy and immunology in 2019, That
(24:55):
said removing dietary triggers significantlyreduced intestinal permeability and
inflammation.
So again, before we can do anything else, weneed to remove what's causing damage in the
first place.
And so, step two, replace.
So we need to support what's missing indigestion.
And so, we use digestive enzymes which aregoing to help your body to break down carbs,
(25:19):
proteins, fats, things like betaine HCL, whichis hydrochloric acid, which can improve stomach
acid to further support protein breakdown.
We use things like bile salts, bitters, whichare going to help your body to absorb things
like the fatty acids that you're taking in, andultimately improve the ability for your body to
(25:40):
function before we start now pushing thingslike probiotics.
And so then that takes us into step three,which is the third R, reinoculate.
And so now we want to basically rebuild a veryhealthy and diverse microbiome.
So we use probiotics that contain multiplestrains that have, you know, we can fill in the
(26:00):
gaps of where you're deficient.
So what we've specifically tested, you'relacking in these markers, we can build those
back up.
We use things like prebiotics, fibers fromfoods like asparagus, onions, and then certain
supplements as well, as well as using fermentedfoods.
You know, food is medicine.
(26:20):
And so if we can use things like sauerkraut,kimchi, kefir is a great one to provide some
healthy probiotic bacteria to the gut torebuild those colonies.
And so there was a quote out of the gutmicrobes journal 2022, targeted probiotic
therapy reduced markers of leaky gut andsystemic inflammation in four weeks.
(26:43):
And so people think this is going to be somelifelong journey.
You know, we see great turnaround within thefirst few months of symptoms.
Obviously, the full remission and healing takesa little bit of time, right, often six to
twelve months.
But as far as symptomatology based, peopleusually start to feel better pretty soon.
And so step four is now the fourth R repair.
(27:05):
And so we've got some more beneficial bacteriawithin the gut.
Now we want to heal that gut lining, right?
If we had the leaky gut and it was damaged, weuse specific nutrients, things like L
glutamine, which is basically fuel for thecells in your intestines.
Zinc carnosine, which tightens those junctionsand can repair, as well as collagen peptides,
(27:26):
bone broth, and things like omega-three fattyacids to reduce the inflammation.
And so peptides are becoming a lot more usedfor these types of things.
Specifically, the BPC-one 157 is basically gutacid peptide.
And so if we take it orally instead of aninjection, the oral dose goes to the gut and it
(27:46):
can actually start to heal that gut tissue aswell.
It's pretty awesome.
And then the fifth R is going to be therebalancing.
And so this is where we focus on more of thelong term lifestyle approach.
But also given you kind of like, here's thekeys to the city, right?
You have the tools now that it takes to keepthis healthy.
(28:07):
Now, you just need to maintain that lifestyle.
And so, we focus on things like stressmanagement, breath work, meditation, right?
Because we talked about how stress can wreckthe gut.
So, you don't want to do all this work tocorrect your problem and fix your gut, and then
go back to the stressful lifestyle that youwere in that wrecked it in the first place.
We focus on sleep, right?
(28:29):
Because sleep is very important for a balancedcircadian rhythm, which directly impacts the
diversity of flora in your gut.
And then movement, exercise, as well as, youknow, maintaining a healthy diet are going to
be paramount as well for maintaining thatmicrobiome diversity long term.
And people can take things like probiotics longterm.
(28:50):
It's there's no negatives to that if you needto, but ultimately you don't have to either if
you're eating diverse and maintaining a levelof, you know, diversity within your diet and
exercise as well.
And so, know, the biggest takeaway here foreverybody is that gut healing isn't a pill.
It's not something you're going to go get fromyour primary care doc and it's going to fix
(29:14):
your problem like that.
Unfortunately, I do wish it worked that way.
But it is a process.
And so, we have found a way or created a way tomake that process, you know, easier for people
to incorporate into their daily life.
Because that's often the hardest part is peoplewant to fix their problem, but the amount of
effort and work and consistency it takes, Wejust we don't have time for that right?
(29:39):
We don't have a time in our busy schedule inour life to do something like that.
But we take that into account because we'rebusy.
I'm busy.
I have kids.
Have I have life, you know, a business, all ofthat.
And so we want to be able to find a way thatmakes it work for you.
And so, everything is personalized.
We build lifestyle plans, and we get reallygreat results because we're able to focus on
(30:01):
the person as a whole, including everything,Their lifestyle, their family, all of that, and
not just focus on their symptoms and theirissue.
And so, you know, you're building really afoundation for your immune system, your
hormones, your mood, and then longevity,whatever that looks like for you.
So, you would like to learn more about how wehelp to diagnose, reverse, and heal gut
(30:23):
dysfunction within our functional medicineprograms, go to a lesseefunctionalhealth.com
schedule a consultation with me or one of ourother providers.
Let's create a personalized plan for lifelonghealth.
Listeners of the show, you're always going toget exclusive discounts and reductions on
price, on any protocols, lab tests, or anythingelse.
(30:43):
And so just be sure to mention to us where youheard about us.
And as always, if you found value in this show,please like, subscribe to our channels, and
share this with someone who you think needs tohear it.
That's how we can grow the message and helpchange more lives and help more people.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, or ifyou have a story you'd like to share on an
episode, email it to us, askalessiefxhealth dotcom.
(31:07):
Then you can always visit alessiefxhealth.com,sign up for our newsletter, and that's how
you'll stay up to date with all our resourcesand learn more about our approaches to cutting
edge therapy.
Thank you again for tuning in to HealthDecoded.
I'm Doctor.
Alessi, and I'll see you on the next one.
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded,where we break down the truth about all things
(31:30):
health and empower you to take charge of yourwell-being.
If you found value in today's episode, pleasesubscribe, leave a review, and share it with
someone who needs to hear this.
For more resources and personalized support,visit us at alessifunctionalhealth.com and sign
up for our newsletter.
To hear your questions answered live on theshow, send them to ask at AlessiFX Health dot
(31:53):
com.
That's ask@alessifxhealth.com.
Until next time.
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember,your health is in your hands.
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