Is your gut as healthy as you think?

Do you ever experience any of the following symptoms: eczema, sinusitis, bloating, asthma, poor sleep, depression, anxiety, fatigue or chronic antibiotic use for reoccurring infections?

One of the first things I do during a patient consultation is review all their symptoms which are specific to each individual.  Then I ask them to describe their nutrition and diet. I believe that nutrition and diet go hand in hand and both can be altered with lifestyle modifications. Finding the underlying cause of symptoms is what I love to do with my patients. I do not want to put a band aid on the symptom(s), I want to rid the symptom(s) from the body. The first step in treatment is to treat the gut.

The Gut

Healthy Gut

Leaky Gut

A well-functioning gastrointestinal system is vital for a healthy body.  This system starts at the mouth and ends at the rectum. In Functional Medicine, we always look closely at this important system because the digestive system has been considered a second brain. What we eat and ingest can affect our mood and energy levels, so I will ask for a history of antibiotic use, types of food they consume and any kind of environmental exposures. These are factors that can change the permeability of the intestinal tract. Many patients present with inflammatory issues which can be traced back to gut health and permeability of the intestinal tract.

Nutrient absorption is regulated by cells in the wall of the intestinal tract. Healthy cells in our gut wall control the nutrients that pass into the body for nourishment. Between these cells we have tight junctions that keep them nice and close to prevent unwanted molecules from passing through. When the system becomes irritated the wall does not work, this is referred to as leaky gut. Our cells become inflamed from diets that are high in inflammatory foods such as: processed foods, foods high in omega 6’s, high processed sugar or gluten filled foods. These are some of the most common things that will cause an inflamed intestinal tract, and they will also cause poor bacteria diversity in the microbiome. Another factor that causes dysbiosis is antibiotic usage.  Probiotics help prevent dysbiosis in both cases. There are many different supplements that promote the ability to help heal these leaky guts. The products I have researched and use are made by Microbiome Labs.

 MegaSporeBiotic™, MegaMucosa™ and MegaPreBiotic™

These three products do different things in the intestinal tract. The MegaSporeBiotic™ helps to recondition the tract with 5 different types of bacillus. These probiotics do not require refrigeration and have a 5-year shelf life. This is completely different from other probiotics on the market. The MegaPreBiotic™ is a clinically formulated, non-digestible oligosaccharide blend that helps to selectively feed beneficial bacteria in your intestinal tract. The problem with many other prebiotics is they feed all the bacteria, whereas MegaPreBiotic™ is formulated to feed the good bacteria, not the bad. This is used to promote a strong and diverse microbiome. The last product is the MegaMucosa™ that is used to help rebuild the intestinal tract. It is formulated with key amino acids that reinforce the healthy mucosal barrier. The immunoglobulins are dairy-free, and they are clinically shown to support a healthy immune response.

These are some of the products that I am using to treat my patients that have leaky gut. It is important to heal the impaired guts. Often, simply changing your diet and removing foods that cause inflammation will help; however, if we do not heal the intestinal tract then we still have the same structural issues. Imagine leaky gut as a pot hole in the road. Over time external factors can affect the hole, many times invisible to the eye. Now think of the foods you consume as the tires on your car, If I make my tires larger, I will not feel the impact of the holes, but they are still there. However, if I fill in the pot holes to make the road better and change my tires to larger ones then I have changed the structural and external factors. Ultimately, we need to change the foods we eat to decrease inflammation and add supplements to promote the integrity of our gut wall.   

Remember if you have sinus issues, acne, eczema, bloating, constipation, loose watery stools, fatigue, weight loss plateau, depression or foggy thinking, then you may have a gut issue.

Please schedule a consultation with our pharmacist, Dr. Michael Muniz, who will help you to get on the right products to help heal your system.