There is a growing interest in the role diet plays in behavior, yet current studies have yielded inconsistent results around directly linking the gut microbiome as the cause of certain behaviors such as anxiety, depression and autistic behavior. A recent study tries to tackle the question of whether the gut microbiome is directly linked to autism spectrum disorders.

April is World Autism Awareness Month, a period for raising awareness about the conditions that impact communication, social interaction and behavior and affect about 1 in 160 children worldwide and 1 in 44 in the US.

Restrictive diets in terms of calories and nutrients are widespread among people. Although this type of diets could help with weight loss in the short term, their long-term effects on the gut microbiome and overall health remain unknown.

How diet affects a person’s weight appears to be much more complex than previously thought due to the potential role the gut microbiome plays in nutrient absorption, energy production, inflammation and metabolism.

It’s now well known that diet greatly influences the gut microbiome, and more recently research has shed light on how the gut microbiome is altered in obese vs normal weight individuals.

The purpose of the article is to uncover how dietary components and long-term dietary patterns interact with and influence gut microbiota composition and function and intestinal inflammation.

As the saying goes, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but figuring out exactly how long-term dietary patterns affect the gut microbiome’s role in regulating inflammation has not been quite as clear for researchers.

Diet has been shown to play a role in both IBD and IBS symptoms and possibly disease progression

While we’re in the middle of a pandemic, people are focusing more on nutrition as a way to support and improve their immune health.

Even though there is a lot of fear mongering surrounding covid-19, the good news is several studies have shown that various nutrients, herbs and foods can benefit the immune system. Moreover, recent studies have shown the importance of having adequate vitamin D levels to protect yourself against covid. The good news is that we can control a lot of aspects regarding our physical health starting with our nutrition.

Diet greatly influences gut microbiota composition, and evidence shows how the way gut microbiota metabolizes our food may be more relevant than the actual food we eat.

With so many diets and trends– high fat, low fat, low carb, Paleo, vegan, etc.– it’s hard to know which diet is best for our health. Diet greatly influences gut microbiota composition, and evidence shows how the gut microbiota metabolizes our food may matter as much as what we eat.

Studies have shown food intolerances affect approximately 20% of the population in industrialized countries, but despite their high prevalence, their exact mechanisms are unknown. Adverse food reactions include food allergies and food intolerances. Unlike food allergies that are characterized by immunological (immunoglobulin E (IgE)) dependent mechanisms, food intolerance is a non-immunological response to food or food components that leads to complaints like abdominal pain, diarrhea, hives, vomiting and eczema.

Can cooking certain foods influence the gut microbiota? A team of researchers has set out to discover whether heat, which changes the properties of different foods, also affects the gut microbiota.

Studies have shown that diet, such as Paleo, high fat vs low-fat diet or Western diet, greatly impacts the gut microbiota composition even more than genetics. Surprisingly, little is known how cooking certain foods might alter the gut microbiota. Since heat changes the chemical and physical properties of foods, researchers wondered if this too affects the gut microbiota.

Occasional gastrointestinal symptoms are common in the otherwise healthy population. Most symptoms respond to dietary changes presumably via changes in the gut microbiota. Evidence shows that diet has a major impact on the gut microbiota and overall gastrointestinal health, and dietary interventions, such as consuming probiotics, especially Bifidobacterium, and the low oligo-, di-, and monosaccharide and polyol (FODMAP) diet, are recommended for different disorders. Physical activity may also improve the gut microbiota composition and appears to reduce digestive complaints, yet many studies analyzing the effects of diet and lifestyle are limited.

There’s been some debate as to whether it’s preferable to synthesize vitamin D naturally from sun exposure or from supplements.

The short answer is to think about how nature designed humans. Are we designed to take supplements or to be out in the sun? No.

Check out my previous post that explains how vitamin D is synthesized in the body and the numerous health benefits here. Yet, many physicians and dermatologists recommend avoiding sun exposure because it can increase the risk of melanoma. But is this really true?

Contraception can be a controversial topic, but regardless of your personal beliefs, it’s important to know what your options are so you can make an informed decision that’s best for you and your partner. It’s also important to be aware of the potential side effects especially of hormonal birth control, which most doctors don’t tell you.

There are four types of contraception: hormonal, barrier methods, permanent methods and family planning (which includes fertility awareness method otherwise known as the symptothermal method). I highly recommend you read my previous post about How the menstrual cycle works and 7 signs of a healthy period first to give you some background about how female hormones are supposed to work throughout your cycle.

Diet and lifestyle have a major impact on your hormones and levels of inflammation all of which can in turn affect your period and menstrual pain. Most people blame their hormones directly for their period problems, but in reality, following an anti-inflammatory diet can be just as effective as taking ibuprofen (Motrin) or paracetamol (Advil). In fact, several studies have shown that an anti-inflammatory diet can be very effective at reducing menstrual and endometriosis pain.

Sneezing, sniffles, hives, headaches and dizziness— what do allergy symptoms have in common with PMS?

Many women don’t realize that a histamine intolerance may be the cause of their period pain.

Histamines are chemicals that are stored in mast cells which are a type of immune cell. Estrogen causes the release of histamine from mast cells in the uterus and ovaries. If you have higher estrogen levels, it can cause an increase in histamine levels and vice versa.

The infant gut microbiome is characterized as low in diversity that’s dominated primarily by bifidobacteria and unique to the individual. During approximately the first three years of life, the gut microbiome develops and is largely shaped by various factors including delivery mode (vaginal vs Cesarean birth), maternal antibiotic use, home environment and breastfeeding vs formula feeding. The gut microbiome is later influenced by diet and how long the child was breastfed which affects the gut microbiota composition later in early childhood.

Several recent studies have shed light on the benefits breastmilk have on infant health and their developing gut microbiomes because it contains various components, such as beneficial bacteria, prebiotics called human milk oligosaccharides as well as immune cells, that confer long-term benefits for babies’ health including preventing malnutrition. Additionally, breastfed babies have been found to have less instances of allergies and metabolic disease, yet it is unknown how breastfeeding practices (i.e. nursing vs. pumping) affects the breastmilk composition and infant gut microbiome.

Pumping breastmilk has become a popular and convenient way for mothers to continue to feed their babies breastmilk, yet it is unknown as to whether this method affects the transfer of other non-milk-derived bacteria from the pump or bottles compared to maternal skin for example.

The importance of maintaining a healthy gut microbiome has been gaining more attention. 

The gut microbiome contains trillions of microorganisms, most of which are bacteria, and plays a major role in various aspects of our health. 

Probiotics and fiber have gotten a lot of fanfare lately when it comes to gut health, but in order to feed the “good bugs” or beneficial bacteria in our intestines, we also need to eat adequate prebiotics. 

Unlike probiotics, prebiotics are not live microorganisms, and although most prebiotics are different types of fiber, not all prebiotics are fiber. So what are they?

Ever since I was a little kid I have had stomach issues- vomiting, susceptible to stomach bugs, gas, bloating, etc. You name it, I’ve experienced it.

Unfortunately, as I grew older into my adult years, I didn’t outgrow my sensitive stomach. I finally went to a gastroenterologist who concluded that despite my symptoms of heartburn, gas, bloating and diarrhea, all I had was a mild case of acid reflux for which he prescribed me stomach acid blocking medicine.

I left his office infuriated because I knew that an antacid would not solve my underlying digestive issues, so I started to do my own research about digestive health and the gut microbiome and the role diet and lifestyle play in overall gut health, which has led me to publish various peer review articles about the gut microbiome and overall health. With some dietary and lifestyle changes I healed my gut which has greatly impacted my overall health and energy levels.

I chose this image because it illustrates how disturbing medical interventions can be during birth that are unnatural and negatively affect mother and child. For example, Cesarean birth rates are far above 10% of all births, which the WHO recommends. The baby should be immediately placed on the mother’s chest to comfort mother and baby, stimulate oxytocin and milk production, and delayed umbilical cord clamping is recommended to prevent infant anemia. And lastly, look at how they are holding this baby who has just entered into this cold world with little reverence or respect.

The horrifying rate of obstetric violence during pregnancy and childbirth remains largely undocumented or talked about, yet luckily some recent studies are bringing to light this humans rights issue that greatly needs to be researched more and prevented.

Obstetric violence is defined as verbal or physical abuse or disrespect during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum period— a particularly vulnerable time for any woman— which unsurprisingly leads to long-term adverse effects for both mother and infant. Moreover, women who are adolescent, unmarried, of low socio-economic status, from ethnic minorities, migrants or living with HIV are at greater risk of suffering disrespectful and abusive treatment (1).

Many people were taught in school that the mitochondria are those little organelles that act as the powerhouses in our cells. Besides playing a key role in bioenergetics like ATP production, mitochondria are also responsible for glycolysis (the metabolic pathway that converts food into pyruvate) and cellular respiration (transfer of protons and electrons to create ATP), and the number of mitochondria in each cell can range from a few to thousands per cell depending on factors like age, nutrition, and exercise.

Women are cyclical creatures by nature in part because of our menstrual cycle. Unlike men, our hormones fluctuate throughout the month and even daily in most cases. Traditionally the menstrual cycle has been associated with the lunar cycles and seasons of the year. Unfortunately, the sacred nature of the menstrual cycle, its rituals and rites of passage from menarche to menopause has become lost in modern society, and as a result, the menstrual cycle has become a mystery and something to be ashamed of or even hated.

One of the reasons so few women let alone men know how the menstrual cycle works is because we’ve been taught that it’s gross and should be suppressed with hormonal birth control or stopped completely. Newsflash— without menstrual cycles, none of us would exist!

Medical intuition is a type of complementary and alternative medicine that involves a person tapping into their intuitive and psychic senses to gain insight into the energetic and physiological origins of illness and disease.

The practitioner can pick up on imbalances in a person’s energy field (aura), chakras, energy channels, physical organs and systems of the body as well as spiritual contracts and karmic patterns.

Although this practice is called medical intuition, the practitioner does not have to be a licensed medical professional and should therefore not be used as a substitute for medical care, treatment or diagnoses.

While we are in the midst of mandatory lockdowns around the world for the covid-19 pandemic, I can’t help but think that staying at home inside is probably the worst thing we can do for our immune systems, which has been stated by experts.

I know it’s radical to say this but excessively washing your hands, bathing and sanitizing your homes is not conducive of a healthy microbiome and therefore immune system.

This goes against everything we’ve been taught.