Fitness Nutrition, Health and Wellness

Why Grandma’s Soup Was The Best

Posted on August 15, 2016March 5, 2023 by Travis Wade

15
Aug

Why Grandma’s Soup Was The Best

By Travis Wade

Holy the benefits of soup! Grandma is the best! She makes the best soups doesn’t she? The benefits of soup are endless and so are the flavours!

How Grandma Made Soup

Allow me to fill you in on how grandma made the best soup. First she started with a base from boiling the bones of an animal that grandpa shot. Back in the day, nothing got wasted. They used the entire animal tip to tail. That’s why the broth was so good and nutritious. The hardest to digest and least nutritious part of the animal is the muscle. I know, it tastes the best which is why we all eat it like kings.

On a side note, all of the studies showing that red meat is bad for you are studies using meat that has hormones, antibiotics, and fed genetically modified grains. This meat is bad for you. Grass fed or wild meat is extremely beneficial to your health. Enjoy your Walmart steak (sarcastic). Some places around Edmonton that sell grass fed meat are listed in this article.

The Asians got it right again. Not only do they work harder, study harder, and have faster reflexes, they eat meat better too. They eat all the nutritious parts we cringe at. I’m not going to try to talk you into eating testicles or tongue, but throw all those weird organs and parts into the soup base. Grandma did…

Boil your base for at least 12 hours. Grandma would boil it for at least that long and usually closer to 24 hours. Sometimes for days actually. That’s where the song came from, “Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot, 9 days old”. As long as you’re boiling it, it will keep. No bacteria will grow in those temperatures.

Anyway, boil your carcasses for about 24 hours. You’ll need to invest in a giant soup pot because you don’t want to be doing this every day. You’ll need a couple of them and a giant stainless steel colander that fits around the rim of the second giant soup pot. Strain the carcasses from the broth and throw out all those bones and organs. Don’t feed the bones to your dog. They will be brittle and get stuck in the dog’s’ throat.

Let the broth cool off. The fat rises to the top and after it sits in the fridge it hardens. Break off the fat and keep it for cooking with. Now you have a gelatin full of collagen, L-glutamine, proline, glycine, zinc and all kinds of nutrients that makes your body strong.

It doesn’t take much to make it taste good. Salt, pepper, onion, and garlic make it taste delicious. Grandma would put all the most nutritious strengthening foods in it like turmeric (if grandma was part Asian), cayenne pepper, basil, oregano, garlic, cabbage, onion, tomato, celery, squash, carrots… the list is very long here.

The Benefits

One benefit I need to mention grandma had in mind with her soup is that it strengthens the gut lining. Your connective tissue is made up of mostly collagen. Where are you getting collagen in your diet? Your gut lining is made up of collagen as well and unfortunately, today’s SAD or Standard American Diet is really good at breaking down the gut lining. Inasmuch, the SAD doesn’t have much to build the gut back up.

Hippocrates said that all chronic diseases start in the gut and many doctors believe he was right. Every autoimmune disease is caused by a broken down gut lining. Many things break down the gut lining, but the good news is bone broth builds it back up.

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride is a Russian neuroscientist that created the GAPS diet and has seen thousands of patients get better with a soup diet and psychology. She teaches her methods to other practitioners and they also have seen thousands of patients get better with her methods.

I know a lot of skeptics say why isn’t everybody doing it if it works. For one it’s hard to monetize, but Dr. Josh Axe has done that now. He has created his bone broth protein powder and you can buy it online for around $45. Dave Asprey, the Bulletproof guy, also sells collagen powder.

The other thing is it takes approximately 18 years for scientist discoveries to become mainstream. The issue I’m writing about right now is called leaky gut syndrome and it affects us all to some degree unless you are doing something about it. A drug is in the works to help with the problem. Once the pharmaceutical companies can monetize this issue you will be hearing all about it in the mainstream, but for now a lot of conventional doctors are denying it even exists.

Don’t take the drug because it doesn’t fix what is causing the problem. Do what doctor Josh Axe recommends and eat the one pot diet. He says the crock pot is the key to a healthy gut. He talked about how the gut is a lot like your skin and when you get an abrasion and you keep irritating that abrasion it’ll take a long time to heal. The same is with your gut when you eat hard to digest foods. If you eat crock pot or one pot foods your food is soft and easy to digest giving your gut the chance to heal. Dr. Axe recommends at least 3 cups of broth per day to heal the gut lining.

Dr. Natasha Campbell Mcbride says “Soup for breakfast, soup for lunch, soup for dinner and soup in between. Soup, soup, soup, soup!” 2 weeks to 2 months of nothing but soup to strengthen the gut lining. She’s a Russian grandma.

Maintaining a healthy gut is so highly underrated. As an EMT half the medical patients I saw had gut issues. Half of those patients left the hospital undiagnosed. In all autoimmune diseases you will find leaky gut syndrome. Do all chronic diseases start in the gut?

I wish you lots of health, love and happiness!

Travis Wade

The only holistic personal trainer in Edmonton

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Health and Wellness

Why Do Most People Call An Ambulance? Besides Loneliness

Posted on June 27, 2016March 5, 2023 by Travis Wade

27
Jun

Why Do Most People Call An Ambulance? Besides Loneliness

By Travis Wade

I have worked as an EMT for over 17 years. I have seen all kinds of health problems and it’s hard to watch when I know how to prevent health problems. The most common problem I’ve seen is abdominal pain. About half of the abdominal problems leave the hospital undiagnosed. You have to wonder why.

My full time job now is personal training and I am still helping people, but in a preventative way. That’s why I just want to go over some of the most common problems people have that I’ve seen and why.

Abdominal Pain

You can’t exercise your intestines the same way you can exercise your biceps. The number one nutrient I recommend to people is not even on the list of highest nutrient deficiencies in North America. It is soup broth. The types of food most people will eat these days does so much damage to their intestinal wall and most people don’t do anything to improve it. Your intestinal wall is made up of mostly collagen. How are you getting collagen in your diet?

Soup broth not only has collagen, but it has the amino acids proline, glycine, L-glutamine, and it has zinc, iron, magnesium, and lots of other nutrients your body needs. All of these are recommended to build up your gut lining. Also, you just don’t get the same effect if you use supplements; you need to eat properly with high nutrients and lots of fibre.

Heart Problems

Atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis are generally the causes. The most common causes of atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis was not on the list of nutrients to prevent heart disease that I just read, but it is on the list of most common nutrient deficiencies. It comes in third behind vitamin D and Omega 3s. Vitamin K2 is what reroutes calcium to its proper destinations like in the bones to prevent osteoporosis.

It also prevents the calcium (plaque), building up in your vasculature preventing diseases like heart attacks, stroke, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolisms. It also prevents the incredibly painful kidney stones and gallstones. Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchee have vitamin K2.

Diabetes

Caused by sugar, but even more by sweeteners including stevia, sucralose or Splenda, aspartame, and anything diet. Artificial sweeteners are even more addictive than sugar and produce diabetes faster. This may be intentional. Food companies want you buying as much of their addictive food as possible and a side bonus is they can get you on medication too.

Depression

Caused by many things, but a huge contributing factor is gut problems. Serotonin, dopamine, and other neurotransmitters regulating your mood are created in your gut. Take care of your gut with soup first, then find out what is in your microbiome. You might be able to manipulate your gut bacteria with natural methods or you might have to take a medication to get rid of severe pathogens under the guidance of a medical practitioner of course. Then take the steps to build a good strong microbiome with sauerkraut, sources of fibre, rice starch, and probiotics.

Autoimmune Diseases

Again this is caused by gut problems. The weakened gut lining allows bigger molecules to pass through the lining which your body doesn’t recognize and attacks. These molecules and inflammation along with the toxins being produced are what cause the autoimmune diseases. In every autoimmune disease you will find leaky gut syndrome. Some of the things that contribute to leaky gut syndrome are genetically modified foods, gluten, dairy, and lectin found in beans.

Thyroid Problems

Gluten is the protein in bread or flour that binds it like glue and one of the molecules that will pass through a weakened gut lining. Your body doesn’t recognize gluten and will produce antigens against it. Your thyroid has proteins that are very similar to gluten. The gluten antigens also attack the thyroid. Once you fix your weakened gut with soup, you can add some gluten back to your diet, however, gluten is one of the proteins that cause a weakened gut.

Another very common problem for the thyroid is everyday chronic stress. It creates an overactive adrenal gland and when cortisol is high, thyroid hormone is low. Experts don’t know which causes which but adrenal problems and thyroid problems go hand in hand.

Toxins

Toxins need an honourable mention here. I was talking to someone about mycotoxins in their coffee and they wanted to show me an article that said the mycotoxins in our coffee was under the legal limit and considered safe. The article also talked about how there was mycotoxins in dairy, peanuts, grains, and is even found in breast milk. All of the above are things I recommend avoiding in your diet for reasons much more than the mycotoxins. All except the breast milk which I highly recommend.

How did the mycotoxins get in the breast milk? Like a lot of toxins, mycotoxins are difficult to eliminate and end up in breast milk. This is another really good reason to reduce your toxic load. You are exposed to over 200 toxins before you’re born and if your mom wasn’t careful it’s in her breast milk. I am not saying you have to avoid everything that has toxins, but you have to take care to reduce your toxic load.

The mycotoxins in your coffee, along with the milk in your cereal, the grains in your cereal, the sugar… how much toxins have you swallowed at breakfast? By the end of the day? Week? Month? They accumulate and are very hard to eliminate. Is the accumulation below the legal limit? The legal limit isn’t a standard you want to follow by the way. I’m going to stop there.

Toxins = The external sources include air, water, diet, drugs, organic pollutants, heavy metals, radiation, and physical or psychological stressors. Internal processes include inflammation, free radical production and oxidative stress, allergens, infections, and even gut flora.

I wish you lots of health, love and happiness!

Travis Wade

The only holistic personal trainer in Edmonton

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Fitness Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Weight Loss

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis – Got A Slow Metabolism?

Posted on April 4, 2016March 5, 2023 by Travis Wade

04
Apr

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis – Got A Slow Metabolism?

60% of people that have this don’t know it!

By Travis Wade

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis Signs and Symptoms

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is the most common thyroid problem and it’s very commonly undiagnosed. As your personal trainer, why is that important to me? Your thyroid is the primary regulator of your metabolism. Hashimoto’s causes less production of thyroid hormone with transient bursts of way too much. The hypothyroid (not enough thyroid hormone), slows your metabolism causing weight gain and the transient surge of hyperthyroid (too much thyroid hormone), causes the anxiety symptoms.

Here’s some of the functions of the thyroid. It regulates:

Breathing

Heart rate

Central and peripheral nervous systems

Body weight

Muscle strength

Menstrual cycles

Body temperature

Cholesterol levels

Symptoms of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Looking at the above functions may make it easier to understand some of the symptoms of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Fatigue is the most common symptom followed by weight gain or inability to lose weight. Some other common symptoms are anxiety, palpitations, hair loss (eye brows), feeling colder than others around you, gut issues, IBS, brain fog, and memory loss. I’m afraid it’s much more common in women.

If you have any of these symptoms, then maybe you have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Here’s the cause, what to do about it, and how to test for it. Again, we have to talk about the microbiome and Leaky Gut Syndrome.

Autoimmune Disease

Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease. Autoimmune diseases are relatively new. The cause of most autoimmune diseases is Leaky Gut Syndrome which is also relatively new. Some of the causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome are GMOs, pesticides, plastic, pollution, preservatives and all the other toxins in our food which are relatively new as well. For the full list of culprits see my article on Leaky Gut Syndrome.

An autoimmune disease is when your body attacks itself. What happens is large molecules aren’t supposed to leak through the gut. Small molecules like amino acids, vitamins and minerals are supposed to leak through, your body absorbs these nutrients and uses them.

Peptides and proteins are big molecules that aren’t supposed to leak through but if your gut gets broken down or damaged these big molecules will leak through. That’s called Leaky Gut Syndrome.

At this point these large molecules get in the blood and your body doesn’t recognize them so you will produce antigens against them. These antigens don’t know the difference between the proteins that aren’t supposed to be in the blood and the proteins of your body. The result is the antigens will attack your own body. If there is enough of the antigens, this is an auto-immune disease.

In Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis the big protein that leaks through is gluten and when your body produces antigens against gluten those antigens don’t know the difference between the gluten and the proteins in your thyroid so the antigens will also attack your thyroid.

You might be producing antibodies attacking your thyroid for up to 10 years before any symptoms kick in. When your body produces antibodies against your thyroid, it can cause fibrosis (scar tissue), which can be painful and cause the thyroid to swell up. In this process you will eventually produce less and less thyroid hormone.

The test for Hashimoto’s is to test your blood for the antigens against your thyroid. Conventional testing tests for TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), or T4 and T3 in some cases. However, the T3 and T4 will likely be normal as well in Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. That partially has to do with the adrenal glands. If you have chronic stress you will produce a substance called reverse T3. Reverse T3 attaches to the receptor sites of T3, but reverse T3 doesn’t activate the receptors for T3.

The Symphony of Hormones

Another problem with being constantly over stressed is you will burn out your adrenal glands causing Addison’s disease. A less severe condition is called adrenal fatigue, which conventional doctors say doesn’t exist, but you can get a saliva test done with a functional medicine doctor. In Addison’s or adrenal fatigue you won’t be producing enough cortisol or DHEA. The symptoms are the same as hypothyroidism.

Cortisol is an amazing anti-inflammatory. With not enough of this anti-inflammatory there will obviously be more inflammation in the body which causes all kinds of problems; one being Leaky Gut Syndrome and another being weight gain.

There is a symphony of hormones in your body. To treat the thyroid without looking at the adrenals may cause more problems. Dr. Axe actually categorizes Leaky Gut Syndrome. “Stress Gut” is when you have certain stress issues due to leaky gut. One of those problems could be thyroid problems. He talked about cortisol levels, and again, there is a balance going on; the more cortisol, the less thyroid hormone being produced.

There are different levels of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis starting with non-symptomatic progressing to full hypothyroidism and other autoimmune diseases present. Again, this is another disease caused by a crappy diet and all the toxins in our food/environment which can be helped with a proper diet and exercise plan.

How To Fix Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

Proper Nutrition

The first thing you want to do to fix an unhealthy thyroid is to eliminate the toxins and get the nutrition your body needs. This alone can turn symptoms around. I recommend the 10 Day Detox Diet Cookbook by Dr. Mark Hyman. It’s a great resource and it is where I try to get all my clients to start because it teaches proper eating habits and what proper nutrition really looks like as opposed to what you’ve probably been taught by popular media.

Leaky Gut Syndrome

The next step is to fix your leaky gut. I am talking about the GAPS diet. It starts with soup for breakfast soup for lunch, soup for dinner, and soup in-between. Lucky for us there is no end to the variety of soups that can be made. You start by boiling bones and organ meats for a day. The bones and meat goes into the pot and just enough water to cover the meat and bones. Simmer that for at least 12 hours minimum. Separate the bones and other undesirables out of the pot, then add what you want.

Having said that, squashes are a great food for the spleen which is the immune system organ and in many cases helps with the problems that cause Leaky Gut Syndrome. Garlic boosts the immune system, ginger does as well, turmeric is really great for the leaky gut as well. Salt, pepper. Mmmm. Sea salt or Himalayan of course.

If you have a thyroid problem you might have a lack of iodine; or too much. T3 (active thyroid hormone), triiodothyronine has 3 iodine molecules, T4 is tetraiodothyronine, which has 4 iodine molecules. Some of the other nutrients that are necessary for a healthy thyroid are Vitamin D and B12, selenium, and iron. You need to be tested for everything. If you have too much of something, it can be just as detrimental in some cases as having not enough. Do you need iodized salt or is it killing you? Talk to your doctor and get a full blood panel done.

Then there is the absorption of nutrients. Do you have low stomach acid? Having low stomach acid can mimic high stomach acid and is sometimes treated as high stomach acid and this happens very regularly.

A side note: Iatrogenic damage [damage caused by medical practises], may be the third leading cause of death in the U.S. Our neighbours that pay for doctors who might want to do a good job for more business… our doctors are free… Just so you know this happens and I’ll stop there… for now. Of course that exasperates the issue.

Low stomach acid and dysbiosis (improper balance of bacteria in the gut), prevents proper absorption of a lot of nutrients creating a lack of nutrients no matter how much nutrients you eat. With dysbiosis you might have pathogens using up iron causing the iron deficiency. Low stomach acid prevents iron from being absorbed. A fix for the low stomach acid is lemon water or apple cider vinegar water to produce more stomach acid. A doctor can put you on medications for better absorption as well.

The Microbiome

The last part of fixing Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is fixing your microbiome (the bacteria in the gut), which is an art. A conventional doctor will likely not help you with this. Conventional medicine can help you with some of the above tasks, but our free health care will not cover a lot of needs. You have to learn to take care of yourself these days. True Balance will test your microbiome to see what you have in your gut and they are extremely thorough.

SIBO is small intestine bacterial overgrowth. 50% of hypothyroid patients have SIBO which is one of the causes of leaky gut syndrome. Remove the source. This might be a herbal protocol, antibiotics, or elemental diet.

It’s a different day and age in medicine my friends. You need to do research on your own and let your doctor know what you want. I know people that are dying, and you probably do too, because you have to take responsibility for your health these days instead of asking a doctor or anyone else to take care of you.

I wish you lots of health, love and happiness!

Travis Wade

The only holistic personal trainer in Edmonton

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Health and Wellness

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Posted on February 15, 2016March 5, 2023 by Travis Wade

15
Feb

What is Leaky Gut Syndrome?

Learn all about Leaky Gut Syndrome before it becomes mainstream knowledge!

By Travis Wade

“We don’t know a lot, but we know that it exists. In the absence of evidence, we don’t know what it means or what therapies can directly address it.” Linda A. Lee, MD, gastroenterologist and director of the Johns Hopkins Integrative Medicine and Digestive Center.

Dr. Oz says leaky gut syndrome is a clinical diagnosis.

Wikipedia says it’s not.

How does a person know who or what is the more reliable source?

Amazingly, the medical profession is just now agreeing this condition even exists. Yet, “intestinal permeability” has been discussed in medical literature for over 100 years!

The medical field is a rapidly advancing field. It seems like the functional medicine doctors are moving forward while your family doctor follows their protocol. However, we can’t be too upset with our family doctors, but you might consider adding a high-quality functional medicine doctor to your team, to ensure good health.

As an EMT, half the people I see going to the emergency room are there for abdominal problems. Worse still, half of those people leave the hospital undiagnosed. While your family doctor argues with an alternative medicine practitioner about whether leaky gut syndrome exists, let me explain what it is, what causes it, and what to do about it. Leaky gut syndrome is nothing like the sasquatch: you see it every day, it has a profound effect on our society, and you probably have it to some degree.

Conversely, the other half of the argument is there are no studies that prove what to do about it. The pharmaceutical companies are working on a medication to treat leaky gut syndrome. When they develop it, they’ll monetize leaky gut syndrome and it will become mainstream knowledge. Remember, you heard it here first!

Fortunately, there are studies on what improves the gut lining and what to do to maintain a healthy gut. The theory is these methods of improving the gut lining will fix leaky gut syndrome.

WHAT IS LEAKY GUT SYNDROME?

We have junctions in our gut linings that act as “gates” in cells at the molecular level. In the gut, they carry nutrients across to the bloodstream. These gates usually allow small molecules to pass while holding larger molecules back to break them down further before also allowing them to pass.

Leaky gut syndrome exists when the permeability of the gut lining has been compromised. The gut lining may be damaged in many ways: This includes cell death, damage to junctions, and the destruction of microvilli, all of which cause the gut to be much more permeable. As a result, when the gut becomes hyper-permeable, larger molecules and toxins may enter the bloodstream and start doing damage.

Ultimately, the liver is forced to work harder to destroy toxins and larger molecules while the immune system takes on foreign invaders in the bloodstream. As a result, the body experiences full-blown, system-wide inflammation.

SYMPTOMS OF LEAKY GUT SYNDROME

Symptoms include autoimmune diseases, allergies, skin problems, candida (yeast) overgrowth, digestive issues, depression, and all kinds of other unexplained issues. Also, I should add that there is an unusually massive surge in these types of problems in our society. Sadly, almost everybody I know has at least one of these symptoms.

HOW TO TEST FOR LEAKY GUT SYNDROME

According to Robynne K. Chutkan, MD, FASGE Assistant Professor of Medicine, Georgetown University Hospital Founder and Medical Director, Digestive Center for Women, there’s a simple test for leaky gut syndrome: a urine test.

Mannitol is a small molecule that passes through a healthy gut. On the other hand, lactulose is a larger molecule that doesn’t normally pass through. After drinking the mixture of mannitol and lactulose, we wait six hours and do a urine test. If there are high levels of both mannitol and lactulose, this indicates leaky gut syndrome.

CAUSES OF A LEAKY GUT

Glyphosate

Glyphosate is the active ingredient in the herbicide “Roundup” which has recently been publicized as a cancer-causing agent. Originally patented as an antibiotic, glyphosate has instead proven to be the cause of many devastating issues, from depleting vital minerals and good bacteria to causing leaky gut syndrome.

Monsanto is the company responsible for creating glyphosate. “The Monsanto Papers” shows lawsuits against the company, who eventually sold out to Bayer. A weird thing in the United States is if you change the name of your company, anyone with a lawsuit against you has to start their lawsuit from scratch. These lawsuits are mostly cancer patients who will likely die before any settlement. Monsanto also created things like artificial sweeteners, Agent Orange, DDT, dioxins (PBCs), phthalates, and polystyrene (Styrofoam).

Worryingly, glyphosate has been sprayed by the tons all over North America and many other parts of the world where it isn’t banned. It’s in every American-made wine, our waterways, almost all of our food, and GMOs, of course. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to avoid but do your best to consume as little as possible.

In addition, because glyphosate has been sprayed so much, it’s killing our reed wildlife, which is detrimental to our ecosystems. Obviously, it’s going to settle where water settles, and that’s where reeds usually grow, but glyphosate kills them. Ultimately, no more reeds = no more ecosystems.

I had an environmentalist come see me for a consult one day. I asked her if she heard of the “Dead Zones of the Ocean”. She had learned about them in school. I asked her what they told her caused the dead zones of the ocean and she said “agricultural runoff”. I asked her what exactly is agricultural runoff. She said “You know, pesticides and sprays”. I asked “Can you name any?” She said “No”. She had actually never heard of Glyphosate before!?

Her job was to count up the reed wild life along the North Saskatchewan river and map them because we are losing them rapidly. She told me the prevention strategy our government came up with is nobody is allowed to build on the reed wildlife. My heart sank.

Plant Toxins

Lectin and phytate or phytic acid are plant toxins. Because plants can’t run or fight like the rest of us, they have thorns or toxins as their defense against predators. Of course, we eat lectin all the time. In low doses, we are fine. In high doses, on the other hand – not so much.

Dietary sources high in lectin include soy, grains, seeds, beans, dairy – specifically, the casein which is the protein in the curd of dairy – and the highest in lectin is food containing GMOs and gluten. Gluten is the protein you’ll find in rye, wheat, barley, oats, kamut, and spelt. Lectin will bind to your gut lining and damage or kill the cell causing a leaky gut.

Dysbiosis

Dysbiosis is an imbalance between good bacteria and bad bacteria in the body. In theory, dysbiosis is one of the leading causes of leaky gut. Glyphosate, prescription antibiotics, chlorine and fluoride in water are the biggest contributors that kill healthy bacteria. This imbalance, along with sugar, increases yeast in your gut. In the end, yeast attaches to your gut lining and does damage in the same way as lectin. Anyone want some bread?

Inflammation

Inflammation exacerbates the issue. When the body is in attack mode, our cells often get caught in the crossfire. Unfortunately, the antigens our bodies create through inflammation actually attack our own cells.

Worse still, inflammation also makes the body weak and allows all kinds of problems to occur, just as mental stress is the number one cause of medical problems in North America. Things that cause inflammation are another type stress on the body.

Some causes of inflammation include medications, NSAIDs or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (like Tylenol, Advil, Motrin); processed foods, preservatives and flavorings, mercury, pesticides and BPA from plastics. Obviously, infections and other sicknesses are in there too. Also, importantly, I’d like to point out that some functional medicine doctors believe NSAIDs are the number one drug that kills people.

Looking at all of the above, it’s clear that your gut is under constant attack. For most people, this is happening at a higher rate than the repair. And, of course, age contributes to leaky gut syndrome as well. I’m sure with all the undiagnosed abdominal problems coming through the emergency room, we can all agree it’s a big deal to take excellent care of your gut. Let me tell you how.

HOW TO FIX YOUR LEAKY GUT

Step 1: Eliminate Causes

Many studies have been done to learn what repairs and maintains a healthy gut. As a result, the four R’s (Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, Repair) is the agreed treatment among functional medicine doctors for leaky gut syndrome. The idea is twofold: First, to heal inflammation and then to restore the integrity of your gut lining.

For a start, eliminating sugars, starches, grains, and other irritating foods alleviates inflammation and starves out yeast overgrowth. The most common allergens are gluten, dairy, sugar and other sweeteners, soy, corn, peanuts, and egg whites. No processed foods either. Almost any food that comes in a package is processed.

What’s more, artificial sweeteners deserve special mention because they kill the good bacteria (flora) in your intestine. We want to grow the good bacteria for protection against bad bacteria that destroys our gut.

Worse still, artificial sweeteners are more addictive than sugar, which lights up the pleasure centers in the brain four times as much as cocaine. On top of that, artificial sweeteners cause diabetes faster than sugar because they spike your insulin even more than sugar. Also, sweeteners increase your pallet for sweet foods which isn’t good for someone who may be addicted to sugar.

Step 2: Add the Repair

Now that you’ve eliminated things that cause leaky gut syndrome, you can work on healing the gut with proper diet and supplements.

The next thing to incorporate is the GAPS diet by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. It starts with soup and Dr. Josh Axe recommends 3 cups of bone broth a day. Moreover, Dr. Natasha advises eating nothing but soup at first; then you can incorporate other foods after your gut heals a bit.

The bone/meat broth is the key ingredient, as it contains collagen, minerals, and the amino acids proline, L-glutamine, and glycine that can help heal your damaged cell walls. The good news is, all these nutrients are great for the gut and all the body’s connective tissue, including the skin.

After incorporating a healthy diet, you may want to consider some supplements to help maintain a healthy gut. I have to mention that taking some of the supplements listed below may do more damage than good, and you should contact a doctor before taking any supplements. However, the bone/meat broth naturally contains a lot of the desired nutrients, so you can consume it safely.

Quercetin

Quercetin is a plant pigment (flavonoid) and has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It is used as a supplement for many ailments. According to Dr. Axe, it’s also been shown to improve gut barrier function by supporting the creation of tight junction proteins.

L-glutamine

L-glutamine is an essential amino acid and an anti-inflammatory. It has many benefits, including assisting brain function, promoting muscle growth, preventing muscle wasting, enhancing athletic performance in endurance sports like snowboarding, improving metabolism, curbing cravings for sugar and alcohol, fighting cancer, improving diabetes and blood sugar, and dramatically decreasing recovery time. I wish I had been taking it before squat day on Tuesday…

The main benefit of L-glutamine is how it helps build and repair the intestines. L-glutamine coats your cell walls and acts as a repellent to irritants. Also, L-glutamine has been shown to repair the gut after damage from chemotherapy and radiation and, in theory, is beneficial in leaky gut syndrome.

Coconut Oil

Similar to omega 3s, coconut oil comes with a long list of benefits, one of which is its positive influence on weight loss. When it comes to improving lifestyle, its anti-inflammatory properties make it one of the healthiest disease fighting sources of energy for your body. It is also easy for the body to use.

Omega 3s

The list of benefits of omega 3s is far too long to duplicate in this article. Instead, please visit my article specifically on omega 3s. For now, I’ll just state omega 3s are high in beneficial anti-inflammatory properties and reducing cortisol. This reduces stress but ultimately, omega 3s are building blocks of the body and help in the repair and maintenance of a healthy gut.

Fibre

Fibre also offers many benefits, including weight loss; but here, I’ll just talk about its contribution to a healthy gut. Your gut is a muscle that is activated by the parasympathetic nervous system or the digestive system. In other words, you can’t work this muscle the same way you can work your biceps.

The way you work the smooth muscle of the intestines is to consume insoluble fibre. It improves motility or the wave action of the tube moving contents through it. Another thing fibre will do for you is maintain a fresher environment – out with the old; in with the new – less time for things to ferment.

Probiotics

Doctors recommend that you have 85% good bacteria in your gut. If you have lots of bad bacteria, nothing you do will heal your gut because the bad bacteria will continue to destroy it. Yeast overgrowth (Candida) or SIBO (small intestine bacteria overgrowth) are common problems that cause leaky gut syndrome.

Unfortunately, most probiotics are completely ineffective. Dr. Kellman interviewed a guest doctor who conducted a study in Africa and Canada; and, according to this doctor, taking a probiotic is like sending an army out without weapons! Consequently, you need the medium that a bacterial culture grows in, like yogurt. When bacteria take up residence in the gut, it’s like equipping the bacteria with weapons. So, eat fermented foods!

Your microbiome is essentially an ecosystem in your gut. There are trillions of bacteria in there, outnumbering your own body cells by approximately 10 to 1. Fermented foods, including kimchi, sauerkraut, and homemade yogurt and kefir, will improve your microbiome. This has so many benefits that another article will have to be written…

A Good Multivitamin, Vitamin D, and Zinc

One of the things I’d like to mention is how zinc improves dry skin (it’s the active ingredient in dandruff shampoo but you’re probably better off getting it in your food) and prevents prostate cancer in men.

Chronic skin problems are rooted in gut problems. Zinc improves gut health as well so if you have dry skin and you add it to your diet, you get treatment for all of your connective tissue. Sadly, Zinc is typically lacking in a North American diet. It can be found in grass-finished red meat and, of course, wild meat is best. Don’t bother with zinc-oxide as your body doesn’t absorb it. (It does make a great sunscreen, however!) Inasmuch, zinc-citrate isn’t good either; citrates are good for bowel movements but not for absorption.

A high-quality multivitamin has many benefits. Your body needs nutrients; and when you get those nutrients your body functions at a much higher capacity. The same can be said for vitamin D which is the leading nutrient deficiency in North America. Over 95% of us are not getting enough. Conversely, do not over do it on these vitamins. Too much is just as bad as not enough. For more on vitamin D, see my article on it. I take my multivitamin once every 3 days or sometimes after a good sweat at hockey.

Digestive Enzymes

Digestive enzymes ensure full digestion of our food, decreasing the chance that partially digested food particles will damage your gut lining. Most people have low digestive enzymes which causes acid reflux. Acid reflux is usually treated with medication to lower stomach acids. Although this relieves symptoms, this just increases the cause of the problem. A natural substitute is to take lemon water or apple cider vinegar water in the morning or before meals. It is also a great additive to improve digestive enzymes for anyone looking to improve gut health.

I KNOW THIS WAS LONG BUT HERE IS MY CONCLUSION

In closing, maintaining a healthy gut is imperative to your health. Spend five minutes in an emergency room. “Unexplained abdominal problems” are an epidemic which is often treated with pain meds and the old phrase, “We will have to keep an eye on that.”

Functional medicine doctors highly recommend a detox to kick-start your journey to a healthy gut. I mean a proper detox – not some gimmick you buy. If you want me to hook you up with a proven detox, DM me or see me in person for a free transformation session.

I wish you lots of health, love and happiness!

Travis Wade

The only holistic personal trainer in Edmonton.

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