The Microbiome Connection

When the microbiome is healthy and has a lot of different species, with the beneficial bacteria and fungi outnumbering the potentially pathogenic species, your health is likely to be quite good. However, many lifestyle behaviors, toxic exposures, and dietary choices can compromise gut health, and that can lead to many downstream health issues.

Conditions such as leaky gut syndrome and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) may be both triggered by microbiome imbalance, and can themselves further imbalance the microbiome, but these gut-associated conditions are more obviously microbiome-linked.

What about other health conditions? As the age-old Hippocratic saying goes, “All disease begins in the gut.” Is that true? As it turns out, in many ways, yes. When your microbiome is weakened or damaged, it can “switch on” a number of potential disease processes throughout the body that may, on the surface of things, seem to have very little to do with your actual gastrointestinal system.

Although there is still much research to be done on this subject and we are really only just beginning to understand the microbiome and its far-reaching influence on your entire health.

11 Health Problems That Are Triggered By Poor Gut Health

1. Autoimmune conditions

As of now, there are around 100 recognized autoimmune conditions and about 40 other diseases that have an autoimmune component. Because 80% of your immune system resides in your gut, it is no surprise that a damaged microbiome and leaky gut syndrome are preconditions for autoimmunity.

2. Mental health disorders

The gut-brain axis links your gut and brain, which is why, in the medical literature, your gut is actually referred to as “the second brain.” An unhealthy microbiome has been linked to mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.

3. Poor immune health

The opposite of autoimmunity (an over-reactive immune system), suppressed immunity can be gut-related, too. If you find yourself sick often, you’ll want to support and improve your microbiome health. Chronically low immune system health can be largely due to (1) imbalances in the microbiome, especially due to an overgrowth of opportunistic bacteria, yeast, or fungus, or a parasite.

4. Heart disease

Scientists recently discovered (2) a possible link between the microbiome and cardiovascular disease. Certain bacteria in the gut produce TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide), which is linked to a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. It is still unclear which microorganism produces these excessive levels of TMAO, but researchers are hoping that, in the future, manipulation of the microbiome species can help in the prevention and treatment of heart disease.

5. Type II diabetes

This chronic degenerative disease has recently been linked to microbiome disturbances. One study (3) found that transplanting the microbiome of diabetic mice into healthy mice made the healthy mice diabetic as well!

6. Skin conditions

Skin problems like acne, psoriasis, eczema, and dermatitis all have microbiome and inflammatory-autoimmune components to them. For many, the missing link to healing their skin issues is healing their microbiome.

7. Weight gain and obesity

Weight loss resistance and obesity have been linked to an imbalance of bacteria in the microbiome. Studies (4) in mice found that overweight mice had a higher number of the bacteria Firmicutes, while thin mice had a higher proportion of the Bacteroidetes bacteria. In human cases, the beneficial bacteria called Lactobacillus rhamnosus was found to support weight loss in women. The microbiome factor may turn out to be a key component for many people seeking to lose weight their body has been holding on to for years.

8. Acid reflux and GERD

Millions of people suffer from acid reflux, or the more serious GERD, and these problems have been correlated with a microbiome dysfunction called SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.

9. Cancer

A fascinating study (5) out of the University of North Carolina suggests that damage and inflammation of the gut severely decreased the variety of bacterial species in the microbiome. This loss of microbiome diversity allowed a pathogenic bacterial overgrowth of E. coli. Eighty percent of mice with E. coli infection then developed colorectal cancer. This suggests that there may be a cancer-microbiome connection, and I expect researchers may find more evidence of this connection.

10. Asthma and chronic sinus infections

Dysbiosis (imbalance) of microbiome bacteria and an overgrowth of Corynebacterium tuberculostearicum, were shown (6) to be a frequent underlying culprit for asthma and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS).

11. Constipation and/or diarrhea

This is obvious, and is digestive so it doesn’t exactly go on this list, but I still feel like it’s important to mention that one study (7) found that there was significantly lower amounts of the bacteria Prevotella and increased levels of Firmicutes in constipated patients. Interestingly, the conventional probiotics that people take, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria, were not decreased in the microbiomes of the constipated patients, suggesting that supplementing with these may not be the solution to that issue.

What leads to poor gut health?

Everyone’s microbiome configuration is unique, kind of like a fingerprint, but there are certain elements that can cause trouble for most of us. For example, we all have some yeast in our microbiomes, including the fungi Candida albicans. Normally, this yeast exists in harmony with the other microbes, but when it is allowed to overgrow, it can cause low-grade inflammation and stress on the immune system. Candida overgrowth can worsen already existing health problems, especially in those with autoimmune conditions or weakened immune systems. The same goes for certain types of bacteria that can cause digestive distress as well as other health problems.

Is your gut microbiome in a state of healthy balance, or are things going awry in there? Your first clue is whether or not any of these common lifestyle or medical factors that lead to poor gut health apply to you:

1. A poor diet

Like it or not, food can either fuel health or fuel disease. One very common way food fuels disease is by damaging the balance of the microbiome. Processed and sugary foods are the most obvious culprits because they feed the more pathogenic types of bacteria as well as Candida albicans, but underlying food sensitivities to even so-called healthy foods can also lead to gut-damaging inflammation. Grains are one common example – even gluten-free grains and whole grains contain amylose sugars that “bad” bacteria and fungi love to consume, and that contribute to inflammation. The best diet isn’t always obvious, and depends on your personal microbiome makeup, genetics, and lifestyle.

2. Gut-meddling medications

Medications may be necessary (although many people take them unnecessarily), but even the ones that help you can have side effects—have you educated yourself on what they are? One of the most common side effects of both prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications is compromised intestinal barrier. In other words, medications can make your gut more permeable, leading to “leaky gut syndrome.” A few of the most notorious culprits:

Antibiotics can save lives, but frequent use and overuse of these drugs kill gut bacteria without distinguishing between good and bad. With more good guys gone, pathogenic bacteria and fungi can take over, especially if you are not making efforts to restore the balance through probiotic supplements or fermented foods.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin, relieve pain by blocking the enzyme cyclo-oxygenase, but this also inhibits it from doing its important job of protecting your stomach from the corrosive effects of its acid. The result can be an increase in intestinal inflammation and consequent permeability. Research estimates that 65 percent of people who consistently use NSAIDs have intestinal inflammation and 30 percent have ulcers. If left unchecked, gut permeability can trigger an autoimmune response.

3. Chronic stress

We are all meant to handle stress now and then, but when stress becomes chronic and you experience consistently high levels of the primary stress hormone cortisol along with decreased oxygen delivery to the gut, damage can be the unfortunate result. Blame the gut-brain axis, too (see number 8 on this list), because the emotional turmoil of chronic stress can directly impact gut inflammation.

4. Alcohol overuse

A glass of wine every once in a while probably won’t do much to your gut in the grand scheme of things (unless you are already experiencing inflammation and severe gut dysfunction). However, consistent alcohol consumption in even the healthiest people can be an intestinal irritant, as well as suppressing the hormones that protect against inflammation and gut permeability.

5. Grains

The negative impact of gluten is well documented now, but in a few years, I believe research will confirm the similar, possibly even worse, negative impact all grains, including those that are gluten-free. With their abundance of amylose sugars that cause inflammation, anti-nutrients such as lectins and phytates that bind to the intestines (8) and make nutrients inactive (9) in the body, and a low nutrient density trade-off for the calories that contain (especially when refined), grains can cause a wide array of damage to your gut and your general health.

6. Autoimmune conditions

Since the majority of your immune system is located in your gut, “leaky gut syndrome” can be both a cause and an effect of autoimmune problems. But inflammation can destroy the integrity of the gut lining, and then when undigested food particles and the toxic by-products of digestion leak out of the gut into areas where they are not meant to be, the body can mount an attack against these perceived “invaders,” increasing levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines that destroy your gut lining to even higher levels, in a vicious cycle of inflammation.

7. Hormone imbalances

Imbalances in the hormones estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid hormones, and cortisol have all been linked to sluggish healing of intestinal damage. This can lead to leaky gut syndrome, as the chronic inflammation in the gut lining damages it, causing it to become more permeable. This may explain why you may not be able to heal despite your best efforts—it’s those pesky hormones! Many people need to focus on balancing their hormones before they can successfully heal their guts.

8. The blood sugar roller-coaster

When blood sugar skyrockets due to excessive carbohydrate intake or insulin resistance, compounds known as advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, go sky-high too, which can increase the permeability of your gut as well as inflict free radical damage on other tissues, accelerating aging.

9. Neurological problems

Your gut and brain are forever linked. They were formed from the same fetal tissue while you were growing in your mother’s womb. They continue this special bond throughout your life through a connection known as the gut-brain axis. Because of this bond, brain problems like depression, anxiety, autism, ADHD, stress, and dementia can lead to leaky gut syndrome and vice versa.

Types of Gut Problems

1. Leaky gut syndrome

An intestinal lining damaged by years of unhealthy eating, food intolerances, stress, and toxns, can allow undigested food particles and bacterial endotoxins called lipopolysaccharides (LPS) to pass out of the digestive tract and into the rest of the body where they don’t belong. Sensing an “invader,” the body can react with systemic inflammation that can become chronic.

In functional medicine, leaky gut syndrome is considered a precondition for autoimmune diseases and many other health problems and requires intervention to heal the gut lining in order to stop the inappropriate immune reaction.

2. Bacterial imbalances

Your microbiome contains a delicate balance of bacterial and fungal species that live in symbiosis with you, but some of those species are pathogenic and can cause health problems if they are allowed to overgrow, crowding out more beneficial species – a condition called gut dysbiosis.

This can lead to health-damaging conditions like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) which in turn have been linked to a wide variety of health problems, from irritable bowel syndrome to autoimmune disease. For example, anxiety and depression have been linked to lower levels of Lactobacillus helveticus and Bifidobacterium longum, and weight gain was linked to higher amounts of Firmicutes.

Ironically, when someone with dysbiosis or SIBO starts to eat healthier, by increasing vegetable intake for example, it can cause an increase in gut symptoms like constipation and bloating. But it is the underlying microbiome issue, not the vegetables that is the root problem.

3. Histamine intolerance

Another issue I often discover in patients with leaky gut syndrome and bacterial overgrowths is histamine intolerance, which is a dysfunction or deficiency of the enzymes that break down histamines – the chemicals produced during an allergic reaction. In people with histamine intolerance, foods that naturally contain histamine or trigger the release of histamine in the body, become problematic. Without the enzymes to effectively get rid of excess histamine, the overflow can cause digestive problems like heartburn, acid reflux and stomach pain after eating, among other issues like anxiety, headaches, hives, and asthma.

4. Yeast overgrowth

We all have some yeast in our gut microbiome, but overgrowths of yeast such as Candida albicans can cause chronic low-grade inflammation and immune stress. People with an already weakened immune system or an autoimmune condition can find candida overgrowth to be a trigger for more health problems.

Assess your gut health.

While you may suspect you have gut problems because of your symptoms, without running any labs, you won’t know for sure. These are the labs that I typically recommend to my patients, to determine if any of these gut problems are a factor in a particular health case:

1. Gut permeability labs

I always run tests for Zonulin and occluding antibodies. These two proteins control gut permeability, and the presence of antibodies can indicate damage to the tight junctions that keep your gut lining sealed. I also test for actomyosin antibodies, which can indicate destruction of the gut lining, and lipopolysaccharides (LPS) antibodies, which can also indicate leaky gut syndrome, if these antibodies are not contained within the digestive tract.

2. A comprehensive stool analysis

This test can uncover everything from the presence of parasites to bacterial imbalances to conditions like candida overgrowth or SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) or SIFO (small intestinal fungal overgrowth)—any of which can negatively impact gut health.

Heal the gut

Once you know the status of your gut health, you can take action for meaningful and sustainable healing. Depending on the severity of your issues, healing can take awhile and patience is paramount. For those with only minor gut dysfunction, healing a not-so-perfect gut can take anywhere from two to 12 weeks . (10) This is due to the fact that your gastrointestinal tract is covered in enterocytes that quickly regenerate, giving you an entirely new gut lining in as (11) little as every three weeks.

However, for those with more severe gut dysfunction, such as long-term inflammation, leaky gut syndrome, or an autoimmune condition, healing can take anywhere between 12 and 24 months before true and secure healing is achieved. While many people see improvements each month, long-term healing can only be accomplished after this one- to two-year period of implementing various natural healing tools.

Natural Ways To Start Healing Your Gut

1. An elimination diet

An elimination diet is my gold standard for uncovering hidden food intolerances. In order to heal your gut, you need to stop eating foods that continue to damage your gut and increase inflammation, but you can’t know what foods are irritating to your individual gut until you remove all potential irritants for a certain amount of time and slowly reintroduce them one at a time, monitoring your body’s reaction. This will allow you to determine which foods your body loves and which foods your body hates. My mindbodygreen video class gives you step-by-step instructions on how to do an elimination diet the right way.

2. Rotating your food

Variety is the spice of life as well as the salve to an inflamed gut. Eating many types of foods will not only give you a wide variety of much-needed nutrients, and rotating these foods to avoid having any one food too often will help you heal and keep your immune system balanced. A good rule of thumb is to never have any one food more than once a day, or even better, no more often than every three days. For example, if you love leafy greens, have Romaine lettuce one day, kale the next day, and collard greens the day after that, before rotating back to Romaine lettuce.

3. Taking probiotics

Probiotic-rich fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir, and kimchi will reinoculate your microbiome with good bacteria—especially important if you’ve recently had a round of antibiotics or been under a lot of stress. A probiotic supplement will also give your gut a much-needed boost of essential bacteria. Use different ones to keep the selection varied and improve your chances for a more robust and diverse microbiome.

4. Drinking bone broth regularly

This superfood brims with collagen and minerals that can soothe and repair a damaged gut. Sip it alone as a warm drink or use it as the base for soups and in other recipes. I recommend making bone broth yourself at home in a slow cooker or pressure cooker (it’s easy), using bones from grass-fed cattle or organic chickens. If you don’t want to make it yourself, Bare Bones and Kettle & Fire are both great options.

5. L-Glutamine

L-glutamine is considered a conditionally essential amino acid because your body uses so much during times of intense physical stress. Essential amino acids must be obtained from diet whereas nonessential amino acids—an example being D-glutamine—are synthesized by your cells. L-glutamine is essential for maintaining the health and growth of enterocytes in your gut since it is the preferred fuel source of these cells. So if you want to win the battle against leaky gut syndrome, L-glutamine should be a go-to resource in your toolbox.

There are many studies that support L-glutamine’s ability to improve gut permeability (12) through dietary supplements. One study, in particular, looked at a group of 107 children and how they responded to L-glutamine. Half of the children took L-glutamine and the other half took a placebo. In just 120 days the children who received the L-glutamine supplement had improved intestinal barrier function. (13) It’s also evidenced that increased glutamine levels can protect against gut permeability. In a study of 20 patients with intestinal permeability and in need of parenteral nutrition (total intravenous feeding), those whose food was enriched with l-glutamine saw no deterioration in gut permeability or mucosal structure whereas the other group did. (14)

Research has even shown that L-glutamine can reduce inflammatory bowel disease symptoms (15) including in people with ulcerative colitis! After four weeks, patients receiving an L-glutamine supplement saw a reduction in symptoms as well as an increase in Bifidobacterium. Surprisingly enough, once patients stopped the use of glutamine their symptoms returned. That just goes to the show the powerful connection between L-glutamine and your gut.

There are many food medicines that contain L-glutamine such as grass-fed beef, bone broth, and grass-fed dairy. For those who want a plant-based option, red cabbage is an abundant source. Eating cabbage in the form of sauerkraut will increase its gut-healing abilities since the fermentation provides your gut with probiotics that also help make L-glutamine more bioavailable.

If you decide to start supplementing, anywhere between 2 and 5 grams per day is typically a good dose for most people. You may also want to look for an l-glutamine powder rather than capsules since it can be easier for your gut to digest.

6. Trying intermittent fasting

By going extended periods of time without eating, you’re able to give your digestion a much-needed break. There are many ways to do this, such as fasting every night for at least 12 hours (many people do 16 hours) or fasting for one day every week.

7. Managing your stress

If you are feeding yourself a giant slice of stress every day, all the health food in the world isn’t going to help heal your gut. Chronic stress can suppress the immune system, decrease blood and oxygen flow to the intestines, and contribute to gut lining permeability. Making time to de-stress through pressure-relieving activities like tai chi, yoga, or meditation can make a huge difference in your stress levels and in turn, your gut health.

8. Coconut oil

How did we ever live without coconut oil? This versatile superfood is full of the healthful saturated fats that are integral to gut healing, as well as lauric, capric, and caprylic acids that have important antimicrobial, anti-fungal, and antiviral properties. This real food medicine gently cleanses your GI system but is also great externally to nourish your skin. Choose organic, extra virgin, cold pressed varieties for maximum benefit.

9. Eating more cooked foods

Raw foods are packed full of nutrients but they can also be difficult to digest. Cooked foods decrease the amount of work your digestive system needs to do to break down food because some of that has been done for you through the cooking process. Even easier to digest are pureed foods like smoothies and pureed soup. Going easy on your digestion can help reduce bloat and lead to a healthier gut. As you heal, you will be able to tolerate raw foods better.

10. Taking targeted natural supplements

Nobody wants to take a giant fistful of vitamins every day, but there are a handful of gut-healing supplements I often call upon to help my patients in digestive distress. These can help speed healing and make a big difference in symptoms:

Colostrum: The lactoferrin in colostrum works as a prebiotic to feed good bacteria and fuel its growth. It also promotes cell growth in the intestines to repair a damaged gut.

The lactoferrin in colostrum works as a prebiotic to feed good bacteria and fuel its growth. It also promotes cell growth in the intestines to repair a damaged gut. Slippery elm: This natural botanical works as a demulcent to reduce inflammation in the gut. You can find this in tea or supplement form.

This natural botanical works as a demulcent to reduce inflammation in the gut. You can find this in tea or supplement form. Turkey tail: This adaptogenic mushroom works wonders against gut overgrowths like SIBO and candida overgrowth. Try it in a warm drink.

This adaptogenic mushroom works wonders against gut overgrowths like SIBO and candida overgrowth. Try it in a warm drink. Deglycyrrhizinated licorice: Sip on licorice tea to soothe and heal your gut lining and ease digestive trouble.

Sip on licorice tea to soothe and heal your gut lining and ease digestive trouble. Marshmallow root: This root supports the repair of a damaged gut lining by coating the stomach to protect it against increased inflammation. You can find this in tea or supplement form as well.

11. Lemon Water

Lemons contain ample amounts of phytonutrients, vitamin C, and fiber which are all needed for supporting gut health. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps to lower inflammation in the gut and boost the immune system which is important since your gut is home to around 75% of your immune system! It is also works as a natural antimicrobial to bring balance to the bacteria in the microbiome.

Lemons are also high in a type of fiber called pectin. This is good for your gut bugs and helps to promote healthy gut bacteria balance and encourage growth of beneficial bacteria. Multiple studies (16) have shown that these particular fibers like the ones in lemons, stimulate the growth of important probiotics in the microbiome like bifidobacterium.

The whole-food fusion of vitamin C, prebiotic fiber, and phytonutrients also lends itself to leave the drinker with a cleaning-like effect, especially if drank first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

In order to really get the most positive impact on your gut health, I suggest not using lemon juice as a stand-alone tonic. Try to keep as much of the lemon pulp as you can with the lemon juice in your water since the pectin fiber and phytonutrients are mainly found in the lemon pulp. Also, make sure the water is either warm or cold, not hot, as the hotter water denatures the Vitamin C.

12. Apple Cider Vinegar

Research has shown (17) that vinegar can mildly lower the growth of gram-negative bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. These bacterial colonies are higher in bacterial endotoxins called lipopolysaccharides (LPS). Higher LPS levels are implicated with a whole slew of inflammatory health problems as well as leaky gut syndrome.

ACV has also been shown (18) to have anti-yeast, anti-fungal, and antiviral benefits which are all helpful at supporting the microbiome and immune balance.

Another benefit to ACV is its natural antihistamine (19) effects. It can help to lower the symptoms of allergies and chronic immune problems such as sneezing and wheezing. When purchasing ACV I always suggest looking for one with its “mother” included. The “mother” is a colony of beneficial bacteria which is similar to a kombucha’s SCOBY.

Another potential benefit of apple cider vinegar is its ability to prove indigestion and heartburn. One of the most common causes of heartburn I find in my patients is low stomach acid or hypochlorhydria. I have found that many patients see improvement with their heartburn, acid reflux, and overall digestion when they take a small amount of apple cider vinegar with their meals.

Overall, I usually always see the best results when using ACV in it’s raw, unfiltered form with the “mother” included. You’ll be able to see the mother as a sediment in the bottle but it usually always also says so on the label. Since ACV is very acidic, you may find that diluting it with water or juice can make it easier to swallow. Drinking straight apple cider vinegar can damage tooth enamel and the throat. Typically, I find people to well with 1 to 2 tablespoons mixed with 1 ounce of water.

Knowledge is power when it comes to your health, especially the health of your gut. Arm yourself with understanding so you know what destroys and what heals you, and you will be the one in control of your health future. For additional support, work with a qualified practitioner to help take your healing journey to the next level through labs and a customized care plan. Before you know it, you will be back on the road to restoring your thriving health and feeling like yourself again.

Exactly How Long It Takes To Heal Your Gut + Microbiome

Lest you be fooled, don’t think regular bathroom habits or the absence of heartburn means that your gut is sound. Many gut problems are asymptomatic in terms of digestive symptoms – approximately 22 percent of people with gut problems can have significant damage to their small intestines but not suffer (20) any gastrointestinal symptoms at all.

But maybe you are health-savvy and already practicing gut-friendly habits like eating fermented food, drinking kombucha, taking probiotics, and sipping on bone broth. And yet, you may still feel like your gut isn’t where it should be. You are still having symptoms, health issues, or obvious signs of gut dysfunction like bloating, pain, and acid reflux. How long will it take before your gut-healing practices make a difference?

Healing from the inside out.

Let’s begin by imagining the surface area of your gastrointestinal tract. If you spread it all out, it would cover about the size of a tennis court! This internal “court” is covered in special cells called enterocytes that constantly regenerate so that you get an entirely new (11) gut lining every two to three weeks. If you are healthy and don’t have any chronic conditions like autoimmunity or inflammation, and if you don’t have any food sensitivities, you could heal a not-so-perfect gut in as little as two weeks or as long as 12 weeks, studies (10) suggest.

A study from Harvard, published in the medical journal Nature, found significant changes in gut bacteria actively happening just three days after a dietary change!

Unfortunately, most people who are trying to heal their guts do have other health issues that make healing happen more slowly. If you have chronic inflammation, Lyme disease, viral infections, blood sugar issues, adrenal fatigue, SIBO, an autoimmune condition, histamine intolerance, candida overgrowth, or leaky gut syndrome, it’s going to take longer to get you back on the right track. You are on what I call the autoimmune-inflammation spectrum, so you are going to have to come at your healing from multiple directions at once to get results.

What is the autoimmune-inflammation spectrum?

Autoimmune disease doesn’t just pop up one day out of nowhere. It begins with the slow burn of inflammation, which can simmer and spread for years before you get a diagnosis. This means if you have some inflammation, you don’t necessarily have a diagnosable autoimmune disease, but you could be headed in that direction. Did you know that to be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, your immune system has to have already destroyed a significant amount of tissue (such as the brain, gut, or thyroid)? For example, there has to be a 90 percent destruction (21) of the adrenal glands to be diagnosed with Addison’s disease (a disorder in which the adrenal glands don’t produce enough hormones). There must be severe destruction of the neurological tissue to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS), and massive destruction of small intestine tissue to be diagnosed with celiac disease (CD). I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait around for that level of disease before I can put a name on it.

This is why I look at this process as just that, a process, not a state. This process has, three stages:

Silent autoimmunity: You have positive antibody labs but you have no noticeable symptoms. Autoimmune reactivity: You have positive antibody labs and symptoms. Autoimmune disease: You have enough body destruction to be diagnosed with a specific condition.

A large percentage of my patients fall under #2. They have labs that are a little off, and they have uncomfortable symptoms, but they don’t have a diagnosis and have been told by their conventionally trained doctors that they are “fine.” Inflammation and symptoms are not “fine,” in my opinion. In these cases there is almost always some gut dysfunction and these patients are quite likely headed towards much more serious health issues if they do not intervene in the process.

Taking food allergies and sensitivities into account.

One of the most powerful things you can do to reverse your inflammation and go the opposite direction on the inflammation-autoimmune spectrum is to start healing the inflammation in your gut by addressing the foods you put into it. Researchers are now finding what we’ve been saying for decades in functional medicine: food reactivities like gluten sensitivity are just the beginning stage of one end of the larger inflammation spectrum, with autoimmune conditions like celiac disease (CD) on the opposite end.

And as I mentioned before, there needs to be significant destruction of the intestinal microvilli to be diagnosed with CD. Only around 10 percent of people with CD have obvious digestive symptoms. Instead, they end up struggling with other seemingly unrelated symptoms like skin problems, anxiety, or depression. Therefore only about 5 percent (22) of celiacs ever get diagnosed and leaves close to 3 million Americans with celiac disease who have no idea that they have it and another 15-20 percent with gluten sensitivity.

For people with this kind of inflammation spectrum dysfunction it can take up to six months (23) just to begin reducing inflammation and antibody levels that can result from eating a reactive food like gluten. But that doesn’t mean you won’t notice improvements. I find clinically that my patients notice symptom reduction with each passing month, but for those who are already progressed along spectrum, it can take up to two years before changes are dramatic and sustained.

I encourage people who want to know more about your gut health to get a proper functional medicine work-up and appropriate labs to get an idea of where you really are. Even though it may not happen as quickly as you would like, gut healing will begin to happen, especially if you stay focused on gut-friendly health habits and heed professional guidance.

6 Delicious Gut-Soothing Recipes

Here are six of my favorite gut healing recipes for overall health:

1. Nourishing Chicken Zoodle Bone Broth Soup

Ingredients for the bone broth

Whole organic chicken

1 onion

6 cloves garlic

1 inch of ginger root

Ingredients for the soup

1 to 2 cups chopped onions

1 to 2 cups chopped carrots

2 tablespoons coconut oil

4 to 6 cups bone broth

3 to 4 small to medium zucchinis

2 cups shredded organic chicken

2 to 3 garlic cloves, crushed or minced

Himalayan sea salt to taste

Preparation

Bone broth:

Rinse the chicken and place it in the pot. Fill your pot three-quarters full with water and add the herbs and vegetables. Cook on medium-high until bubbling, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer covered until chicken is done. Remove chicken from pot and remove meat from the bones. Place bones back into the pot and save the meat for later use. Continue to simmer the bones covered with the liquid, at least 8 hours, up to 48 hours, to taste. Allow to cool, then pour stock through a strainer and transfer to mason jars to store in the fridge.

Soup:

Saute the onions and carrots in coconut oil in a pot until they are soft. Add bone broth and bring to a boil. Make zucchini into the noodles. Slice the zucchini into your desired size of strips, either thick or nice and thin (more like actual noodles) with a julienne slicer or “spiralizer.” Once the carrots are tender, add the zucchini and simmer (covered or uncovered) until tender. The time will vary depending on the size of your zucchini “noodles.” Add the chopped chicken and garlic, bring back to a boil, and then turn heat off. Cover and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and add sea salt as necessary.

Benefits: Bone broth, the gut super healer, contains many of the building blocks for your enterocytes, which are the cells lining your digestive tract. The natural blend of gelatin, glucosamine, glycine, and minerals found in bone broth can help calm leaky gut syndrome, diarrhea, constipation, and food intolerances. If you struggle with histamine intolerance, I recommend cooking the bones in the broth for a shorter amount of time. If you would rather purchase bone broth, Bare Bones and Kettle & Fire are two of my favorite brands.

2. Rejuvenating Celery Juice

Ingredients

1 to 2 bunches organic celery

Preparation

Juice the celery. Drink it fresh.

Benefits: As simple as it sounds, celery contains many minerals and nutrients that are great for your gut. I’ve seen this simple solution work wonders for thousands of patients when they consume it consistently. Over time, the juice will help restore your stomach’s natural acid, HCL, aiding in healthy digestion and microbiome balance. I recommend drinking 16 ounces of fresh celery juice on an empty stomach in the morning.

3. Gut-Soothing Ginger & Slippery Elm Tea

Ingredients

1 teaspoon fresh ginger root

1 teaspoon slippery elm powder

2 cups purified water

Preparation

Grate the fresh ginger root into your teapot. Pour 2 cups of water into the pot and boil. Strain. Stir in and dissolve slippery elm powder.

Benefits: Ginger and slippery elm are both anti-inflammatory and healing to your intestinal lining.

4. Probiotic Superfood Burger

Ingredients

1 pound grass-fed ground beef

Himalayan sea salt to taste

1/2 head organic lettuce with large leaves

1/2 a white organic onion, sliced

1/2 cup watercress

1/2 cup drained organic sauerkraut

1/4 cup organic mustard

Preparation

Heat grill to medium-high. Form the beef into four 3/4-inch-thick patties. Season with salt. Cook the patties until desired readiness. Remove the lettuce leaves from the head and rinse. Use the lettuce leaves as the “sandwich buns” and add the burgers, onion, watercress, sauerkraut and mustard.

Benefits: You’ll obtain good anti-inflammatory fats like CLA and omegas from the grass-fed burger, prebiotics and phytonutrients from the vegetables, and good bacteria from the sauerkraut, all in one delicious meal.

5. Dr. Cole’s Gut-Healing Smoothie

Ingredients

2 cups chopped kale

1 cup plain almond milk

1/2 cup frozen organic berries

2 tablespoons grass-fed collagen powder

1 tablespoon L-glutamine powder

1 tablespoon extra-virgin coconut oil

1 teaspoon deglycyrrhizinated licorice (DGL)

1 teaspoon zinc carnosine

1/2 teaspoon probiotic powder

Preparation

Combine the ingredients into a blender.

Benefits: Gut medicines like collagen, zinc carnosine, coconut oil, probiotics, and L-glutamine are easy to get in when you blend them into delicious smoothies. I make myself a smoothie like this one every morning!

6. Anti-Inflammatory Turmeric Milk

Ingredients

2 cups plain coconut milk

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon raw honey

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

Pinch of black pepper

Preparation

Blend ingredients well in a blender. Pour into saucepan and heat for 3 to 5 minutes over medium heat until warm.

Benefits: Turmeric is great for putting out the flames of inflammation. Its benefits are amplified and made more bioavailable when mixed with fats like coconut and spices, particularly black pepper. Ginger is another great anti-inflammatory and gut-healing tool.

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