May 14, 2024 • 22 mins
Embark on a journey with us, Dr. Enrico Dolcecore, as we explore the fascinating universe within our gut. We promise to equip you with the knowledge to foster a flourishing microbiome, the unsung hero of our health. Our conversation peels back the layers of how a robust gut ecosystem not only protects us from conditions like diverticulitis and ulcerative colitis but plays a pivotal role in our immune system's defense. If you've ever experienced the discomfort of abdominal pain or unexpected changes in bowel habits, you'll understand the urgency of nurturing your gut before these whispers become a roar.
In this insightful episode, we delve into how antibiotics, while life-saving, can inadvertently throw our gut's delicate balance into disarray, especially in children. The good news? We share how diet can act as both the architect and restorer of a healthy microbiome. Our guests unravel the importance of short-chain fatty acids, the mighty molecules aiding our fight against inflammation, and how the tug-of-war between beneficial and pathogenic bacteria can be tipped in your favor with the right foods. So prepare to arm yourself with dietary wisdom that transcends trends, ensuring the resilience and vitality of your gut's microcosm.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey everyone, welcome to another podcast of Living a
Full Life.
I'm Dr Enrico Dolcecori andthis week we are continuing on
with gut health and nutrition.
It's been a great series in thepodcast and everyone's asking
some great questions about it.
So let's keep talking and keepdiving deeper into gut health
and how the gut works.
(00:22):
So we talked about with DrHeifer over the last few
episodes about gut maintaininggood, healthy habits for the gut
, what you can do for gut health.
So I highly recommend goingback to those podcasts and
listening to those.
And then we had the wonderfulMs Hernandez on who talked about
nutrition and how she can helpwith anybody virtually because
(00:42):
she's in Canada, she's notguided and restricted with some
of the regulations, so you cancall her up, work with her and
she can help you unfiltered withnutritional things that can
help you.
Once you've been not diagnosedI don't like that word but once
you've been assessed with yourgut, you can then move towards
healthier nutritional habits tohelp supplement gut health and
(01:02):
actually regenerate gut liningand cells.
And all that and that's whatwe're going to talk about today
is things like diverticulitis,colitis, ulcerative colitis,
ulcers, and why the digestivetract gets bombarded at some
points in our life or it mayaffect someone you've known, and
how detrimental that can be totheir overall function.
(01:24):
It can leave them bedridden andeven hospitalized with some of
these conditions, and that'sbecause our gut is as dynamic as
it is.
It's also very sensitive and itcan't perforate, it can't
ulcerate, it can cause internalbleeding and it can all lead to
bad things.
So that's what we're trying toprevent here.
(01:44):
Once we get to those diagnoses,I always tell people you know
it's too late.
Once we get the diagnosis, thebest health care is prevention.
It always is.
We want to prevent gettingthere and not getting to the
diagnosis spot.
But in case we're on that path,or maybe you've been through a
bout of IBS or diverticulitis inthe past, this episode is for
(02:05):
you.
How do we keep a healthy gutthrough how we eat and how we
diagnose our gut over time.
So I'm going to usediverticulitis as an example,
and if you don't know whatdiverticulitis is, it's
typically an infection of thegut lining.
So it's a conditioncharacterized by inflammation of
portions of the gut, usuallythe large intestine or colon,
(02:29):
and these pouches that are allin the gut can get weak spots in
the colon or are in thedigestive tract and then they
can get irritated and inflamedand they can lead to like
fistulas and constipation andextreme pain.
So the most common side effectsor symptoms of an inflamed
bowel is abdominal painTypically it's on the left-hand
(02:52):
side because that's where mostof our large intestine bundles
up, but it can be on either side.
Fevers and chills because ofcourse we've got inflammation
and possible infection.
Nausea and vomiting because thebody's trying to get things out
.
Changes in bowel habits likediarrhea or constipation,
bloating and gas tenderness inthe abdomen.
(03:13):
Especially when you touch it itbecomes very sensitive.
So these symptoms cover a lotof gut irritability and
diverticulitis is a very commondiagnosis given very quickly.
Once we see a primary care orgo to urgent care is like you
have diverticulitis.
Maybe a CT scan is done maybeit's not To look at the abdomen
(03:36):
and if they see any inflammation, automatically the first
diagnosis is diverticulitis.
Just at least start a processof treatment and then follow-up
testing can happen to help zonein on the diagnosis a little bit
more.
But the whole point of this ishow do we prevent these things
from happening, how do we notget an inflamed gut?
And it starts by understandinghow the gut really works and its
(04:00):
entire system.
So the new frontier in the gutover the last 25 years has been
the gut microbiome.
We've been talking more aboutthe bacteria and the viral load
in our systems, more than theactual physiology of the gut.
We're not actually just talkingabout the actual organ or the
tissue and the cells andepithelial cells.
(04:21):
And all this of the gut thatwe've done for the last 100
years we're now looking into.
Okay, we understand that thisis cells and layers to it, just
like our skin, but how does itactually function?
And it's an entire microbiome,an entire environment of
bacteria and viruses that worktogether to promote digestion.
It's a fascinating universethat our gut is and we're in the
(04:44):
initial frontier ofunderstanding it.
A microbiome refers to thediversity or diverse community
of microorganisms that inhabitthe gastrointestinal tract.
These play a crucial role inmaintaining health in the gut,
preventing various digestiveconditions, including
diverticulitis.
And here's how the gutmicrobiome influences
(05:08):
diverticulitis or any type ofinflammation.
Prevention Number one it'smaintaining intestinal barrier
function.
So this microbiome I alwaysgive examples when I'm teaching
a workshop or anything like thatabout health and we talk about
the gut.
I say you know, the microbiomeis like the piping system in
your home.
Just from the sinks, from thewashing machines, everything
(05:28):
like drains water drains throughthe pipes and out to the sewer,
right.
So these pipes are just likeour digestive tract.
Everything just goes through itand we absorb the nutrition
from it and the rest of it getsshould be filtered out to the
sewer system, right.
But inside of that PVC pipe,the plastic pipes that we have
are copper pipes.
Depending on how old your homeis, it's coated in this film and
(05:54):
this film.
The healthier this film is, thethicker it is and the more
diverse it is.
Is this film on the inside thathelps everything move back and
forth a lot easier?
Does that make sense?
So that, almost like a plackingof the inside of the tubes or
of the gut, is this diverse landof microbiome, of all the
(06:14):
bacteria that are there, andthis helps the integrity of the
intestinal barrier creates thiswhole new barrier above the cell
lining, which is crucial forpreventing the prevention of
harmful substances and bacteriasfrom the gut into the
bloodstream.
So the microbiome itselfcreates its own barrier from
(06:36):
being absorbed into thebloodstream, so it protects
itself.
And as we deplete this plaque,let's call it, or this biome
within our intestinal tract.
What ends up happening is webecome more susceptible to the
cell lining of the gut beingexposed, and the more it's
exposed to stress, the higherthe risks of irritation and
(06:56):
inflammation which can lead tocell pathology.
And that cell pathology can beanything.
It could be irritable bowelsyndrome.
It could be diverticulitis,because now we have fistula
inflammation.
It can be an ulcer that startsto bleed because we've irritated
that area so much it can bleed.
We have ulcer or ulcerativecolitis.
So the pathology that happensis irrelevant.
It's the inflammation we needto talk about.
(07:18):
So we maintain this gutmicrobiome.
A healthy gut microbiomecontributes to the strength of
this barrier, reducing the riskof inflammation and infection
that can lead to diverticulitisor any other condition.
It's just coats our entireintestinal tract.
You can see it fascinates me asI continue to learn more about
this.
But the simplicity of it isunderstandable.
(07:42):
But the complexity is wait aminute.
What bacteria, what viruses?
And now we've opened up a hugebox of unknowing systems of how
which bacteria play in whichrole, and we're getting good at
understanding it.
But there's so many bacteriaout there.
So trying to understand what'sgoing on, there is where the new
research is going.
(08:02):
What's going on.
There is where the new researchis going.
So the old thing of eating someyogurt and getting some
probiotic was a good attempt atgut health.
But it's not as simple as justtaking a probiotic or eating
yogurt.
What it is is having a vastarray of microbiome in there and
maintaining that microbiome.
So you say, well, why wouldthat disappear or why would that
(08:25):
get hurt?
Well, the number one thing thatdepletes bacteria, what kills
bacteria in our body I mean badbacteria is attacked by our
white blood cells to preventinfection or to kill off
infection.
That's only if it enters intothe bloodstream.
So our digestive tract isactually considered external to
the human body system.
(08:45):
Does that make sense?
You're going to be like well,wait a minute.
Isn't that the deepest part ofit?
It is, your bowels are thedeepest part of the actual
physical body.
But this tube is pretty muchthe opening is your mouth and
the exit is your anus and it's atube all through the entire
body that is considered external.
So your body treats that system, the digestive system, as
(09:09):
external.
So bacteria can go through.
You can swallow Mountain Dew,you can do some crazy stuff, you
can put some crazy Coca-Colathrough that entire system, you
can drink whatever you wantstraight up whiskey.
Put it right through thatsystem.
It will come out.
That's how.
So it's considered externalInstead of injecting something
(09:29):
into your body like a B12injection or a B12 pill.
Two different ways.
One has to be broken down andabsorbed.
The injection goes straightinto the bloodstream.
So you get direct B12 injectioninto the bloodstream or into
the muscle or whatever it may be.
So that's how we do that.
So what kills bacteria?
Well, internally we have anentire immune system that kills
(09:50):
it, but externally antibioticswe would take something
externally, like an antibioticto help us with an infection
that we may have or a fever, andthat antibiotic actually ends
up killing a lot of themicrobiome the good and the bad
in our gut.
So the more we're exposed toantibiotics, the more severe our
gut is bombarded and killed off, so that plaquing system inside
(10:14):
of the gut is actually depleted.
Does that make sense?
And antibiotics are typicallyused when Older or younger
Younger Our kids.
We put them through a lot moreantibiotics at the younger ages
because they're getting sickmost of the time.
Any of you have had asix-month-old or a 12-month-old
or a two-year or a four-year-oldunderstand that they get sick a
(10:35):
lot and the default to it notso much now as it used to be,
but still there is antibioticsChronic ear infection antibiotic
, raggedy cough antibiotic,fever antibiotic and then we put
through that.
So we're not given a chance,young, to build up a proper
microbiome.
And then we get into our, youknow, 10 years old, teenage
(10:59):
years and we've got a disruptivegut and we're starting off our
life like that.
So then we may actually gothrough antibiotics with
treatments later in our life.
You know, make it come downwith pneumonia or something we
need to take some antibiotic.
I mean, we don't mess with thatstuff, we take it, but our gut
gets depleted and what we haveto do is rebuild it.
And we rebuild that throughdiet and we'll get through that
in a second.
Same thing withover-the-counter medications
(11:21):
like NSAIDs that can depletelike Tylenol can deplete the gut
system as well.
So usually it's pharmaceuticals, it's dietary things that we
put into our system, lifestylemodifications these things can
actually change the microbiomeitself.
So that's the number one thingand what we'll do to rebuild
that is we'll talk about in asecond a good high fiber diet
(11:42):
with fermented foods, and we'lltalk about that in a second.
So maintaining internalintestinal sorry, intestinal
barrier function was what wejust talked about.
And number two is regulatingimmune function.
So the gut microbiome regulatesimmune function.
Oh my gosh, we just opened up acompletely different universe.
(12:04):
We've been talking about theimmune system as its own innate
system that is controlled by thecentral nervous system, and now
research is saying well, hangon a second.
The gut microbiome interactswith the immune system directly
and has a communication systemwithin it, helping to regulate
immune response and promoteimmune tolerance.
(12:25):
Whoa, why do some kids get moresick than others?
Not genetics, we now have adirect link between why some
people get sick more often andothers don't.
I remember working up in Canadain the winters.
It was flu season.
What do you mean flu season?
Why is it now?
Why is it November?
(12:45):
Why is it flu season?
Because people's guts werebombarded because of Halloween,
thanksgiving, christmas, newYear's, valentine's Day, like
sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar,sugar, right, and we're
depleting it and they're gettingsick and they're taking
antibiotics and they're moredepleted and they eat more sugar
and they're more depleted andthey take another antibiotic and
they're depleted, and that'swhat was happening.
So this is to promote immunetolerance.
(13:08):
A balanced gut microbiome canprevent inappropriate immune
reactions and reduceinflammation in the gut, which
is important for preventingconditions like any inflammation
of the gut, ibs, diverticulitis, colitis, ulcers.
We talked about them.
Isn't that amazing?
We're seeing this in thegeneral literature now, saying
(13:29):
that, yeah, the microbiome ofthe gut directly controls.
It's slipping in the research.
They're not even sayingcommunicates with the innate
immune system.
It says it directly controls.
It's slipping in the research.
They're not even sayingcommunicates with the innate
immune system.
It says it controls it.
It literally tells the immunesystem from the central nervous
system what to do.
That is amazing and that'swhere the research is going and
that's why we need to have sucha healthy microbiome diversity
(13:51):
in our guts.
Producing short chain fattyacids We've all heard of long
chain fatty acids your omega-3s,your omega-6s, your omega-12s.
We know about those.
You may not be a biochemist andknow exactly the chain and can
write it down on a piece ofpaper, but who cares?
You don't need to.
But what about these shortchain fatty acids?
They're SCFAs.
(14:11):
You'll see it sometimes in theliterature, but not talked about
very often.
Certain beneficial bacteria inthe gut microbiome ferment
dietary fiber to produceshort-chain fatty acids such as
betarate, acetate and propionate.
Short-chain fatty acids haveanti-inflammatory properties and
(14:33):
help maintain the health of theinterstitial lining of the gut.
By promoting the production ofshort-chain fatty acids, a
diverse and healthy gutmicrobiome can reduce
inflammation and protect againstinflammatory gut disease.
That's pretty cool stuff.
So the gut, the bacteria in thegut, actually ferment the fiber
(14:55):
that we eat and that producesshort chain fatty acids.
That is why, ladies andgentlemen, fiber is so important
in our diet.
We need to be eating it, andthe biggest problem with the
American diet is we don't getfiber.
We don't get enough of it.
We just don't eat the heartyvegetables.
We don't do it, and that isjust setting up our gut for
(15:20):
failure, right there.
Another reason is competing withpathogenic bacteria.
So the microbiome of our gutcompetes with bad bacteria.
So once we get into some badstuff E coli, salmonella,
listeria, whatever comes throughour body, the bad guys.
(15:40):
A diverse and balanced gutmicrobiome can out-compete
harmful or pathogenic bacteriafor resource and space in the
gut.
They won't give them a chanceto set up some room and board
anywhere to set up an infection,and by occupying niches and
producing antimicrobialcompounds, beneficial bacteria
in the gut microbiome helpprevent the overgrowth of
(16:03):
potentially harmful bacteriathat could contribute to
inflammation and infection inthe diverticula fistulas
anywhere in the gut.
That is another fascinating tip.
Right there is that having ahealthy microbiome is like
having a diverse army of goodguys in the gut, that when the
bad guys come in they don'tstand a chance, they're just
(16:24):
overpopulated.
And if they do try and set up,they don't get enough space to
create an infection.
Pretty cool stuff there.
So you know, I have familymembers like I have an iron gut.
They're Italian.
So you know, I have familymembers like I have an iron gut.
They're Italian cousins.
You know, in Italy and stufflike that.
I can eat anything.
I've got an Italian gut.
I've never.
You know, and you kind of thinkabout it Now that you know the
(16:47):
research, they must have reallygood gut flora.
They can eat spicy foods, theycan eat these foods, they can
eat that, they can eat this,they can eat high fat, low fat,
whatever, and it doesn't reallybother them.
So they say and you think aboutit, why Is that genetic?
What's going on?
It's really that they have avast array of bacteria in their
gut.
And the last tip, or the lasttopic, is fermenting dietary
(17:11):
fiber Fiber comes up again.
The five things I told you thatthe microbiome is important
about today maintaininginterstitial barrier function,
intestinal barrier function,regulating immune function,
producing short-chain fattyacids, competing with pathogenic
bacteria, with bad bacteria.
Now number five fermentingdietary fiber.
(17:34):
The gut microbiome plays acrucial role in fermenting
dietary fiber, which isimportant for maintaining bowel
regularity and preventingconstipation.
Constipation and strainingduring bowel movements are a
risk factor to many things likediverticulitis and hemorrhoids.
So promoting a healthy gutmicrobiome through fiber-rich
(17:56):
foods can help preventdiverticulitis by supporting
regular bowel movements andreducing pressure on the colon.
Fiber comes up again andfermenting it plays a crucial
role in the movement.
So now again, another nervoussystem thing that we said
controls the movement of the gutis peristalsis, which is
(18:18):
controlled by the centralnervous system, and completely
wrong.
The central nervous systemssend sensory pathways to the gut
to sense, to absorb food, tobreak down food, to secrete
secretions, to help all theorgans in the digestive system
(18:41):
work, but they do not move whatwe thought, peristalsis.
There is no neurologicalfunction to this and I you know
it hasn't been completelydisproven, but it looks like
that's where the research isgoing, showing that peristalsis
isn't actually a controlledmovement.
It is this microbiome diversesystem that's in our gut, that
(19:04):
when working well, thatfermenting process and breaking
down process of the bacteriaitself is what pushes things
through very, very cool stuff.
You can see how excited I wason this one.
But, going back, if you'resuffering from anything gut
related just constant gut painand you've had no diagnosis, you
(19:25):
, you know, have been told youhad something like IBS those are
the most common onesdiverticulitis Maybe the next
step was endoscopy.
Maybe they went in.
They actually went to go look,and when they're looking now
they're looking for colonoscopy.
They're looking for fistulas,swelling, inflammation, ulcers,
bleeding.
I mean, that's what they'relooking for.
Is these things that we talkedabout today, the actual
(19:46):
diagnosis?
And the good and the bad ofthat is that once they go in
there, if they find something,they can have a solid diagnosis
of what's going on, and that'sgreat.
But the bad thing is now youhave it.
You have that ulcer or you havediverticulitis, or you have the
fistula or polyps or cancer,for Pete's sakes.
So that's where we're trying toprevent.
(20:09):
We don't want to get down tothat road.
All of you listening to thepodcast, I want you to go in for
your regular colonoscopy at 50or whenever you go 40 and come
out of there and they're like,hey, look clean, look great,
it's like a dental checkup.
I want my kids to go for theirdental checkup, like everything
looks great, keep an eye on thistooth.
Clean a little bit more betweenthese two teeth, you know, and
see you later.
That's what you want.
(20:30):
That's what health care is istaking care of our health.
Once we start going mitigatingfor symptoms and disease and
diagnoses it's no longer healthcare, it's sick care.
Now we're trying to take careof sickness.
So preventing this comes fromthe basics and we have been
doing this for over two yearswith podcasts.
Diet comes up over 100 episodes, I think in every single
(20:54):
episode.
Maybe there was one we didn'ttalk about diet, maybe an
exercise topic?
I doubt it.
I think I've talked about dietin every single podcast we've
been in for the entire time andthat's how important it is in
understanding this.
And the simplicity and thecomplexity of diet is like well,
what do I eat?
How do I eat?
What nutrition do I need?
That's the complexity of it.
(21:14):
The simplicity of it is a vastarray of everything.
That's what we need to beeating, a mixed and balanced
diet.
So if we can do that, we canprevent a lot of issues in our
gut.
If you have any questions,reach out to us.
This is the stuff we love infoat full life tampacom.
You will get doctors to respondto you on any questions you
(21:37):
have.
Wherever you are, we're herefor you.
If you have any other gutquestions, we'll turn them into
a podcast.
That's fantastic as well.
Stay well, stay healthy andkeep that gut moving.
Hey everyone, welcome to another podcast of Living a
Full Life.
I'm Dr Enrico Dolcecori andthis week we are continuing on
with gut health and nutrition.
It's been a great series in thepodcast and everyone's asking
some great questions about it.
So let's keep talking and keepdiving deeper into gut health
and how the gut works.
(00:22):
So we talked about with DrHeifer over the last few
episodes about gut maintaininggood, healthy habits for the gut
, what you can do for gut health.
So I highly recommend goingback to those podcasts and
listening to those.
And then we had the wonderfulMs Hernandez on who talked about
nutrition and how she can helpwith anybody virtually because
(00:42):
she's in Canada, she's notguided and restricted with some
of the regulations, so you cancall her up, work with her and
she can help you unfiltered withnutritional things that can
help you.
Once you've been not diagnosedI don't like that word but once
you've been assessed with yourgut, you can then move towards
healthier nutritional habits tohelp supplement gut health and
(01:02):
actually regenerate gut liningand cells.
And all that and that's whatwe're going to talk about today
is things like diverticulitis,colitis, ulcerative colitis,
ulcers, and why the digestivetract gets bombarded at some
points in our life or it mayaffect someone you've known, and
how detrimental that can be totheir overall function.
(01:24):
It can leave them bedridden andeven hospitalized with some of
these conditions, and that'sbecause our gut is as dynamic as
it is.
It's also very sensitive and itcan't perforate, it can't
ulcerate, it can cause internalbleeding and it can all lead to
bad things.
So that's what we're trying toprevent here.
(01:44):
Once we get to those diagnoses,I always tell people you know
it's too late.
Once we get the diagnosis, thebest health care is prevention.
It always is.
We want to prevent gettingthere and not getting to the
diagnosis spot.
But in case we're on that path,or maybe you've been through a
bout of IBS or diverticulitis inthe past, this episode is for
(02:05):
you.
How do we keep a healthy gutthrough how we eat and how we
diagnose our gut over time.
So I'm going to usediverticulitis as an example,
and if you don't know whatdiverticulitis is, it's
typically an infection of thegut lining.
So it's a conditioncharacterized by inflammation of
portions of the gut, usuallythe large intestine or colon,
(02:29):
and these pouches that are allin the gut can get weak spots in
the colon or are in thedigestive tract and then they
can get irritated and inflamedand they can lead to like
fistulas and constipation andextreme pain.
So the most common side effectsor symptoms of an inflamed
bowel is abdominal painTypically it's on the left-hand
(02:52):
side because that's where mostof our large intestine bundles
up, but it can be on either side.
Fevers and chills because ofcourse we've got inflammation
and possible infection.
Nausea and vomiting because thebody's trying to get things out
.
Changes in bowel habits likediarrhea or constipation,
bloating and gas tenderness inthe abdomen.
(03:13):
Especially when you touch it itbecomes very sensitive.
So these symptoms cover a lotof gut irritability and
diverticulitis is a very commondiagnosis given very quickly.
Once we see a primary care orgo to urgent care is like you
have diverticulitis.
Maybe a CT scan is done maybeit's not To look at the abdomen
(03:36):
and if they see any inflammation, automatically the first
diagnosis is diverticulitis.
Just at least start a processof treatment and then follow-up
testing can happen to help zonein on the diagnosis a little bit
more.
But the whole point of this ishow do we prevent these things
from happening, how do we notget an inflamed gut?
And it starts by understandinghow the gut really works and its
(04:00):
entire system.
So the new frontier in the gutover the last 25 years has been
the gut microbiome.
We've been talking more aboutthe bacteria and the viral load
in our systems, more than theactual physiology of the gut.
We're not actually just talkingabout the actual organ or the
tissue and the cells andepithelial cells.
(04:21):
And all this of the gut thatwe've done for the last 100
years we're now looking into.
Okay, we understand that thisis cells and layers to it, just
like our skin, but how does itactually function?
And it's an entire microbiome,an entire environment of
bacteria and viruses that worktogether to promote digestion.
It's a fascinating universethat our gut is and we're in the
(04:44):
initial frontier ofunderstanding it.
A microbiome refers to thediversity or diverse community
of microorganisms that inhabitthe gastrointestinal tract.
These play a crucial role inmaintaining health in the gut,
preventing various digestiveconditions, including
diverticulitis.
And here's how the gutmicrobiome influences
(05:08):
diverticulitis or any type ofinflammation.
Prevention Number one it'smaintaining intestinal barrier
function.
So this microbiome I alwaysgive examples when I'm teaching
a workshop or anything like thatabout health and we talk about
the gut.
I say you know, the microbiomeis like the piping system in
your home.
Just from the sinks, from thewashing machines, everything
(05:28):
like drains water drains throughthe pipes and out to the sewer,
right.
So these pipes are just likeour digestive tract.
Everything just goes through itand we absorb the nutrition
from it and the rest of it getsshould be filtered out to the
sewer system, right.
But inside of that PVC pipe,the plastic pipes that we have
are copper pipes.
Depending on how old your homeis, it's coated in this film and
(05:54):
this film.
The healthier this film is, thethicker it is and the more
diverse it is.
Is this film on the inside thathelps everything move back and
forth a lot easier?
Does that make sense?
So that, almost like a plackingof the inside of the tubes or
of the gut, is this diverse landof microbiome, of all the
(06:14):
bacteria that are there, andthis helps the integrity of the
intestinal barrier creates thiswhole new barrier above the cell
lining, which is crucial forpreventing the prevention of
harmful substances and bacteriasfrom the gut into the
bloodstream.
So the microbiome itselfcreates its own barrier from
(06:36):
being absorbed into thebloodstream, so it protects
itself.
And as we deplete this plaque,let's call it, or this biome
within our intestinal tract.
What ends up happening is webecome more susceptible to the
cell lining of the gut beingexposed, and the more it's
exposed to stress, the higherthe risks of irritation and
(06:56):
inflammation which can lead tocell pathology.
And that cell pathology can beanything.
It could be irritable bowelsyndrome.
It could be diverticulitis,because now we have fistula
inflammation.
It can be an ulcer that startsto bleed because we've irritated
that area so much it can bleed.
We have ulcer or ulcerativecolitis.
So the pathology that happensis irrelevant.
It's the inflammation we needto talk about.
(07:18):
So we maintain this gutmicrobiome.
A healthy gut microbiomecontributes to the strength of
this barrier, reducing the riskof inflammation and infection
that can lead to diverticulitisor any other condition.
It's just coats our entireintestinal tract.
You can see it fascinates me asI continue to learn more about
this.
But the simplicity of it isunderstandable.
(07:42):
But the complexity is wait aminute.
What bacteria, what viruses?
And now we've opened up a hugebox of unknowing systems of how
which bacteria play in whichrole, and we're getting good at
understanding it.
But there's so many bacteriaout there.
So trying to understand what'sgoing on, there is where the new
research is going.
(08:02):
What's going on.
There is where the new researchis going.
So the old thing of eating someyogurt and getting some
probiotic was a good attempt atgut health.
But it's not as simple as justtaking a probiotic or eating
yogurt.
What it is is having a vastarray of microbiome in there and
maintaining that microbiome.
So you say, well, why wouldthat disappear or why would that
(08:25):
get hurt?
Well, the number one thing thatdepletes bacteria, what kills
bacteria in our body I mean badbacteria is attacked by our
white blood cells to preventinfection or to kill off
infection.
That's only if it enters intothe bloodstream.
So our digestive tract isactually considered external to
the human body system.
(08:45):
Does that make sense?
You're going to be like well,wait a minute.
Isn't that the deepest part ofit?
It is, your bowels are thedeepest part of the actual
physical body.
But this tube is pretty muchthe opening is your mouth and
the exit is your anus and it's atube all through the entire
body that is considered external.
So your body treats that system, the digestive system, as
(09:09):
external.
So bacteria can go through.
You can swallow Mountain Dew,you can do some crazy stuff, you
can put some crazy Coca-Colathrough that entire system, you
can drink whatever you wantstraight up whiskey.
Put it right through thatsystem.
It will come out.
That's how.
So it's considered externalInstead of injecting something
(09:29):
into your body like a B12injection or a B12 pill.
Two different ways.
One has to be broken down andabsorbed.
The injection goes straightinto the bloodstream.
So you get direct B12 injectioninto the bloodstream or into
the muscle or whatever it may be.
So that's how we do that.
So what kills bacteria?
Well, internally we have anentire immune system that kills
(09:50):
it, but externally antibioticswe would take something
externally, like an antibioticto help us with an infection
that we may have or a fever, andthat antibiotic actually ends
up killing a lot of themicrobiome the good and the bad
in our gut.
So the more we're exposed toantibiotics, the more severe our
gut is bombarded and killed off, so that plaquing system inside
(10:14):
of the gut is actually depleted.
Does that make sense?
And antibiotics are typicallyused when Older or younger
Younger Our kids.
We put them through a lot moreantibiotics at the younger ages
because they're getting sickmost of the time.
Any of you have had asix-month-old or a 12-month-old
or a two-year or a four-year-oldunderstand that they get sick a
(10:35):
lot and the default to it notso much now as it used to be,
but still there is antibioticsChronic ear infection antibiotic
, raggedy cough antibiotic,fever antibiotic and then we put
through that.
So we're not given a chance,young, to build up a proper
microbiome.
And then we get into our, youknow, 10 years old, teenage
(10:59):
years and we've got a disruptivegut and we're starting off our
life like that.
So then we may actually gothrough antibiotics with
treatments later in our life.
You know, make it come downwith pneumonia or something we
need to take some antibiotic.
I mean, we don't mess with thatstuff, we take it, but our gut
gets depleted and what we haveto do is rebuild it.
And we rebuild that throughdiet and we'll get through that
in a second.
Same thing withover-the-counter medications
(11:21):
like NSAIDs that can depletelike Tylenol can deplete the gut
system as well.
So usually it's pharmaceuticals, it's dietary things that we
put into our system, lifestylemodifications these things can
actually change the microbiomeitself.
So that's the number one thingand what we'll do to rebuild
that is we'll talk about in asecond a good high fiber diet
(11:42):
with fermented foods, and we'lltalk about that in a second.
So maintaining internalintestinal sorry, intestinal
barrier function was what wejust talked about.
And number two is regulatingimmune function.
So the gut microbiome regulatesimmune function.
Oh my gosh, we just opened up acompletely different universe.
(12:04):
We've been talking about theimmune system as its own innate
system that is controlled by thecentral nervous system, and now
research is saying well, hangon a second.
The gut microbiome interactswith the immune system directly
and has a communication systemwithin it, helping to regulate
immune response and promoteimmune tolerance.
(12:25):
Whoa, why do some kids get moresick than others?
Not genetics, we now have adirect link between why some
people get sick more often andothers don't.
I remember working up in Canadain the winters.
It was flu season.
What do you mean flu season?
Why is it now?
Why is it November?
(12:45):
Why is it flu season?
Because people's guts werebombarded because of Halloween,
thanksgiving, christmas, newYear's, valentine's Day, like
sugar, sugar, sugar, sugar,sugar, right, and we're
depleting it and they're gettingsick and they're taking
antibiotics and they're moredepleted and they eat more sugar
and they're more depleted andthey take another antibiotic and
they're depleted, and that'swhat was happening.
So this is to promote immunetolerance.
(13:08):
A balanced gut microbiome canprevent inappropriate immune
reactions and reduceinflammation in the gut, which
is important for preventingconditions like any inflammation
of the gut, ibs, diverticulitis, colitis, ulcers.
We talked about them.
Isn't that amazing?
We're seeing this in thegeneral literature now, saying
(13:29):
that, yeah, the microbiome ofthe gut directly controls.
It's slipping in the research.
They're not even sayingcommunicates with the innate
immune system.
It says it directly controls.
It's slipping in the research.
They're not even sayingcommunicates with the innate
immune system.
It says it controls it.
It literally tells the immunesystem from the central nervous
system what to do.
That is amazing and that'swhere the research is going and
that's why we need to have sucha healthy microbiome diversity
(13:51):
in our guts.
Producing short chain fattyacids We've all heard of long
chain fatty acids your omega-3s,your omega-6s, your omega-12s.
We know about those.
You may not be a biochemist andknow exactly the chain and can
write it down on a piece ofpaper, but who cares?
You don't need to.
But what about these shortchain fatty acids?
They're SCFAs.
(14:11):
You'll see it sometimes in theliterature, but not talked about
very often.
Certain beneficial bacteria inthe gut microbiome ferment
dietary fiber to produceshort-chain fatty acids such as
betarate, acetate and propionate.
Short-chain fatty acids haveanti-inflammatory properties and
(14:33):
help maintain the health of theinterstitial lining of the gut.
By promoting the production ofshort-chain fatty acids, a
diverse and healthy gutmicrobiome can reduce
inflammation and protect againstinflammatory gut disease.
That's pretty cool stuff.
So the gut, the bacteria in thegut, actually ferment the fiber
(14:55):
that we eat and that producesshort chain fatty acids.
That is why, ladies andgentlemen, fiber is so important
in our diet.
We need to be eating it, andthe biggest problem with the
American diet is we don't getfiber.
We don't get enough of it.
We just don't eat the heartyvegetables.
We don't do it, and that isjust setting up our gut for
(15:20):
failure, right there.
Another reason is competing withpathogenic bacteria.
So the microbiome of our gutcompetes with bad bacteria.
So once we get into some badstuff E coli, salmonella,
listeria, whatever comes throughour body, the bad guys.
(15:40):
A diverse and balanced gutmicrobiome can out-compete
harmful or pathogenic bacteriafor resource and space in the
gut.
They won't give them a chanceto set up some room and board
anywhere to set up an infection,and by occupying niches and
producing antimicrobialcompounds, beneficial bacteria
in the gut microbiome helpprevent the overgrowth of
(16:03):
potentially harmful bacteriathat could contribute to
inflammation and infection inthe diverticula fistulas
anywhere in the gut.
That is another fascinating tip.
Right there is that having ahealthy microbiome is like
having a diverse army of goodguys in the gut, that when the
bad guys come in they don'tstand a chance, they're just
(16:24):
overpopulated.
And if they do try and set up,they don't get enough space to
create an infection.
Pretty cool stuff there.
So you know, I have familymembers like I have an iron gut.
They're Italian.
So you know, I have familymembers like I have an iron gut.
They're Italian cousins.
You know, in Italy and stufflike that.
I can eat anything.
I've got an Italian gut.
I've never.
You know, and you kind of thinkabout it Now that you know the
(16:47):
research, they must have reallygood gut flora.
They can eat spicy foods, theycan eat these foods, they can
eat that, they can eat this,they can eat high fat, low fat,
whatever, and it doesn't reallybother them.
So they say and you think aboutit, why Is that genetic?
What's going on?
It's really that they have avast array of bacteria in their
gut.
And the last tip, or the lasttopic, is fermenting dietary
(17:11):
fiber Fiber comes up again.
The five things I told you thatthe microbiome is important
about today maintaininginterstitial barrier function,
intestinal barrier function,regulating immune function,
producing short-chain fattyacids, competing with pathogenic
bacteria, with bad bacteria.
Now number five fermentingdietary fiber.
(17:34):
The gut microbiome plays acrucial role in fermenting
dietary fiber, which isimportant for maintaining bowel
regularity and preventingconstipation.
Constipation and strainingduring bowel movements are a
risk factor to many things likediverticulitis and hemorrhoids.
So promoting a healthy gutmicrobiome through fiber-rich
(17:56):
foods can help preventdiverticulitis by supporting
regular bowel movements andreducing pressure on the colon.
Fiber comes up again andfermenting it plays a crucial
role in the movement.
So now again, another nervoussystem thing that we said
controls the movement of the gutis peristalsis, which is
(18:18):
controlled by the centralnervous system, and completely
wrong.
The central nervous systemssend sensory pathways to the gut
to sense, to absorb food, tobreak down food, to secrete
secretions, to help all theorgans in the digestive system
(18:41):
work, but they do not move whatwe thought, peristalsis.
There is no neurologicalfunction to this and I you know
it hasn't been completelydisproven, but it looks like
that's where the research isgoing, showing that peristalsis
isn't actually a controlledmovement.
It is this microbiome diversesystem that's in our gut, that
(19:04):
when working well, thatfermenting process and breaking
down process of the bacteriaitself is what pushes things
through very, very cool stuff.
You can see how excited I wason this one.
But, going back, if you'resuffering from anything gut
related just constant gut painand you've had no diagnosis, you
(19:25):
, you know, have been told youhad something like IBS those are
the most common onesdiverticulitis Maybe the next
step was endoscopy.
Maybe they went in.
They actually went to go look,and when they're looking now
they're looking for colonoscopy.
They're looking for fistulas,swelling, inflammation, ulcers,
bleeding.
I mean, that's what they'relooking for.
Is these things that we talkedabout today, the actual
(19:46):
diagnosis?
And the good and the bad ofthat is that once they go in
there, if they find something,they can have a solid diagnosis
of what's going on, and that'sgreat.
But the bad thing is now youhave it.
You have that ulcer or you havediverticulitis, or you have the
fistula or polyps or cancer,for Pete's sakes.
So that's where we're trying toprevent.
(20:09):
We don't want to get down tothat road.
All of you listening to thepodcast, I want you to go in for
your regular colonoscopy at 50or whenever you go 40 and come
out of there and they're like,hey, look clean, look great,
it's like a dental checkup.
I want my kids to go for theirdental checkup, like everything
looks great, keep an eye on thistooth.
Clean a little bit more betweenthese two teeth, you know, and
see you later.
That's what you want.
(20:30):
That's what health care is istaking care of our health.
Once we start going mitigatingfor symptoms and disease and
diagnoses it's no longer healthcare, it's sick care.
Now we're trying to take careof sickness.
So preventing this comes fromthe basics and we have been
doing this for over two yearswith podcasts.
Diet comes up over 100 episodes, I think in every single
(20:54):
episode.
Maybe there was one we didn'ttalk about diet, maybe an
exercise topic?
I doubt it.
I think I've talked about dietin every single podcast we've
been in for the entire time andthat's how important it is in
understanding this.
And the simplicity and thecomplexity of diet is like well,
what do I eat?
How do I eat?
What nutrition do I need?
That's the complexity of it.
(21:14):
The simplicity of it is a vastarray of everything.
That's what we need to beeating, a mixed and balanced
diet.
So if we can do that, we canprevent a lot of issues in our
gut.
If you have any questions,reach out to us.
This is the stuff we love infoat full life tampacom.
You will get doctors to respondto you on any questions you
(21:37):
have.
Wherever you are, we're herefor you.
If you have any other gutquestions, we'll turn them into
a podcast.
That's fantastic as well.
Stay well, stay healthy andkeep that gut moving.
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