The Microbiome

Your microbiome is an interactive, what’s-going-on-in-the-outside-world interface, where your immune system sits guard and the bacteria that live there pay rent in vitamins, fuel for intestinal cells and crowd control (think bad bacteria, fungus, virus, and parasites). You have a two way communication network between the brain and the gut and it affects everything from your mood to your immune system. It’s a big deal.

The microbiome is made up of a hundred trillion bacteria that live in your gut and there is more genetic material in the bacteria of the microbiome than we have in our DNA! It’s the largest component to your digestive system, clears at least 50% of our waste products, when out of balance is the root cause of Estrogen dominance, mental decline & brain fog, weight gain, mood disorders like Depression and anxiety and fatigue etc..  Managing your microbiome is THE key to your health. 

You have a microbiome issue if:

  • You have taken antibiotics…EVER!
      • Antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria in the body. However, it does not distinguish between the good bacteria and the bad bacteria, so it just kills it all. If you have taken antibiotics at any point in your lifetime, you need to recolonize the good bacteria and nourish your gut. This includes low levels of antibiotics in conventional meat as well as glyphosate (roundup) on nonorganic grains which acts like an antibiotic.
  • You bloat, have loose stool, constipation or have gas after every meal: 
      • If you are bloating or having gas after every meal, it is likely that you have an imbalance in your microbiome. Loose stool or constipation are just different sides to the same coin, which is imbalance bacteria or pathogen overgrowth.
  • You have mood swings or have unexplained depression or anxiety
      • Serotonin is 90% produced in the gut. Studies show a 20% risk of depression within 1 year after 1 antibiotic and over 40% incidence after 2 antibiotics . When you are not producing enough serotonin, you get depression.
  • You eat less than 50 plant based food sources per month
      • The variety of our food is just as important as the quality. You want organic fruits and vegetables and you want to feed your good gut bacteria different foods throughout the month. Think of them like different animals in the zoo…they each require a special diet…and its made up of varied plant fibers. 
  • You have hormone issues like PMS, PMD, perimenopause, menopause, infertility, irregular periods, PCOS, endometriosis, etc.
      • You have something called an ESTROBOLOME which is a group of bacteria that when elevated can cause reabsorption of discarded estrogens which can lead to estrogen dominance and hormone issues.This is further complicated if you have low progesterone which is necessary to regulate both estrogen and testosterone.
  • You have brain fog, cognitive decline, ADD/ADHD
      • Gut inflammation = brain inflammation…the barriers that get leaky are made up of the same type of cells whether its the gut barrier or the blood brain barrier. Leaky barriers are always bad.
  • Your thyroid isn’t working properly
    • Did you know that your thyroid is affected by your gut? If you have a thyroid dysfunction, it is likely that you have a leaky gut. 

 

What Can You Do?

  • Clean up your diet with the low-inflammation lifestyle: 

Eliminating high-inflammatory foods (think processed foods, sugar, low quality dairy or meat) will start to reduce your inflammation, but also starve the bad gut bacteria. In addition, you will be feeding the good gut bacteria healthy organic vegetables, antibiotic free meats, 50-200 varieties of plant material / month. Your belly will be so happy!

  • Get a stool test done 

We think the best one is BiomeFx. A stool test will give you an in-depth look at what you have going on within your microbiome. You can see if there’s any pathogens lurking such as parasites, bacteria or fungus and see where the imbalance in bacteria are.

ADD BIOME FX TEST LINK HERE

  • Get Adjusted

Sounds crazy right? How can adjustments help my microbiome? Well, in reality, our brain needs to be able to talk to your gut to help absorb nutrients and digest your food properly. If your nervous system is not communicating properly, your microbiome can’t function the way it needs to because your body is likely in too much fight/flight and not enough rest/ digest. Adjusting dramatically shifts this imbalance, yoga and breathwork do too.

  • Stimulate your Vagus Nerve

Your vagus nerve is the longest nerve in your body and allows your brain to communicate with your gut bidirectionally. Why does stress or anxiety cause tummy upset? Because of your vagus nerve! Rapid heart rate? Vagus Nerve! Why do you get sick after being stressed? More Vagus nerve involvement!!

When our body is in fight or flight response, our digestive system is the first thing to shut down along with our immune system. You don’t need to digest food when you are running away from a saber-tooth tiger…but nowadays its deadlines, traffic, bills and your body can’t tell the difference.  Learning to put your body into rest and digest will heal your gut and support your microbiome allowing it to thrive. Breathing Techniques, and the Pulsetto, adjusting, yoga, and mindfulness practices are some of the best ways to switch your body from fight or flight to rest and digest. 

 

The Benefits of Healing your Microbiome

  1. Increased immune system
  2. Better digestion
  3. Balanced hormones
  4. Increased thyroid function
  5. Improved brain function and mood

 

Your entire body is connected. An injured microbiome affects the entire body’s system. From hormones to neurotransmitters; your body will thank you for taking a step towards healing the gut. 

At The Healing Center Denver, our doctors are dedicated to guide you through the process to heal your microbiome with supplements, nutritional therapy, and pathogen elimination. We support our patients with the right education and tools to successfully heal their body and optimize their health. 

 

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2019.112691

Lurie I, Yang YX, Haynes K, Mamtani R, Boursi B. Antibiotic exposure and the risk for depression, anxiety, or psychosis: a nested case-control study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2015 Nov;76(11):1522-8. doi: 10.4088/JCP.15m09961. PMID: 26580313.