Healing your Gut

Information on Gut Health
I meet a lot of people who have some form of IBD (irritable bowel diseases) and am always
happy to share resources/info. So here are my top tips/recommendations that I’ve learned
over the past 12+ years. There’s a lot of info, so I’ll summarize first:
1. Get your diet straight: Find out what your gut can and can’t handle. Eliminate the
foods that irritate it (usually sugars, refined grains, often most other starches & grains, soy,
possibly dairy). Stop eating toxins (processed foods, industrial seed oils, refined carbs &
sugars, processed soy). Eat whole, fresh foods. Try to eat nutrient dense foods and healthy
fats like coconut oil, pastured organic butter, and so forth.
2. Support your gut: Start eating/taking prebiotic fibers (see below) and high-quality,
high-dose probiotics. These can go a long way to helping. See recommendations below.
3. Get an overall picture of your body’s health: Find a good alternative doctor
(integrative medicine, functional medicine, and naturopaths) who can test your blood,
vitamins, other organ systems to see what else is going on that may be preventing your
body from healing. Supplement wisely. Consider testing other endocrine function like
adrenals & thyroid which can effect digestion.
Educate yourself:
I suggest reading these two short blog posts. The first is a good overview of gut health:
http://chriskresser.com/beyond-paleo-6
The second has tips on supporting the gut while on antibiotics, but they apply generally:
http://chriskresser.com/what-to-do-if-you-need-to-take-antibiotics
Last, here is a link to a free e-book by Chris Kresser on gut health:
http://my.chriskresser.com/ebook/gut-health/
Diet:
GAPS / SCD: These diets avoid all grains, sugars, and starches of any kind. It is known
alternatively as the GAPS or the SC-Diet (Specific Carbohydrate). There are two books I
recommend below if you are interested. Depending on the severity of your gut dysfunction
& food sensitivities, you probably wouldn’t need to stay on this strict of a protocol
indefinitely. And, it will likely be helpful to try cutting out those foods of at least a period of
time to give your gut a break and support its healing without further injury. Following the
“elimination diet” procedure, you then add foods back in one at a time and see how you do.
My condition improved dramatically within 24 hours of starting the first phase of the
GAPS diet, which involves only broths and meat and vegetable soups.
Some people also find benefit from the Body Ecology Diet, though I have not tried it
personally and less familiar with it.
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Natasha Campbell-McBride (more here)
Breaking the Vicious Cycle, Elaine Gotschall (more here)
Oren J. Sofer, 2014 ~ For reference only - Bone Broth: This is excellent and essential for healing the gut. The cellular structure of
the fats and proteins is apparently very similar to the lining of our human gut and can
therefore help repair damaged tissue. “Soup bones” and chicken bones are good. Boil at a
simmer for up to 24 hours if you can, with a tsp of Cider Vinegar to help dissolve some of
the bones. If you have a pot with a good, tight-fitting lid, you can even leave this out on the
stove. Be sure to bring it to a boil once per day for 2 minutes, and reboil any time you open
the lid to take some stock out. It’s great for cooking with too!
- Lacto-fermented foods: Try to eat a lot of lacto-fermented foods, a little bit with every
meal if you can. These are things like raw sour kraut, yogurt w/live probiotic cultured,
fermented fish, pickles, and so forth.
Support your Gut:
Prebiotic Fibers:
Prebiotics are very important to feed the indigenous flora in your gut (which are not
actually increased by taking oral probiotics). Here’s the recommendation from one doctor:
Prebiotic fibers have the greatest impact on increasing beneficial bacteria, but they
can be problematic for people with gut issues. One thing you can try is resistant
starch, which is better tolerated than many prebiotics. Easiest and cheapest way to
get it into your system is start with 1/2 TBS of gluten free potato starch mixed with
water or food per day. Build up to 3-4 TBS if possible.
If potato starch is not well tolerated (gas, irritation, bleeding), try a blend of other
prebiotics that is a little easier on the gut, called Biotagen by Klaire Labs. FOS powder is a
cheaper generic option, though it contains a narrower range of prebiotics.
Other sources of prebiotics are anything with CHICORY or INULIN. “Coffee substitute”
drinks like Teecino, Cafix, and plain old roasted chicory root are all good. If you are a coffee
drinker you can buy roasted chicory root (whole or ground) and add some ground to your
coffee.
Probiotics:
It’s essential to take good, strong probiotics - and to get a variety of strains. Current
research has shown that probiotics do not actually increase the native population of
bacteria in our guts, but they DO still have a ton of beneficial effects, from immune
modulation, anti-inflammatory, etc… Here are the ones I have taken which I highly
recommend. Be careful when introducing probiotics into your diet, as there can be “die-off”
reactions from pathogenic bacteria, or lots of extra gas. Start small and increase gradually.
Lactobacillus & Bifido bacteria: Most common in our gut, very important. Here are
the three best ones out there I’ve found. Vary in price & strength:
a) VSL#3: this is the strongest in terms of strength. Requires refrigeration. There is
an Rx-only “DS” (double strength) version. Expensive, but worth it. I recently
learned that it’s easy to make your own YOGURT using VSL3 packets as starters. 1
Oren J. Sofer, 2014 ~ For reference only regular strength packet (450billion) per 1L milk. Let it cure for 8-12 hours
depending on ambient temp & humidity. A food thermometer is helpful.
b) JarrowDophilus EPS: Good quality, high strength, contains potato starch.
c) Theralac: Good quality, 5 strains plus prebiotics, see here.
d) Biokult: Developed by Natasha Campbell-McBride, high quality, broader strains.
Soil-based Organisms: These are newer researched, many of us with IBD are finding
great benefit with them. Google “Old Friends hypothesis” or check out Moises Manoff’s
book “Epidemic of Absence”. Prescript Assist is the only brand I know of. Start with 1/2
capsule / day sprinkled in food, work up to 1-2 per day.
Mutaflor: This is a highly specialized single-strain probiotic, cultured from human stool
in 1917 during WWI. Many PubMed articles showing its efficacy. (it is a fascinating story),
only produced in a few places in the world. It is expensive, but next to VSL#3 one of the
most researched & effective probiotics for IBDs. I have taken 1, 2 or up to 3 per day. Along
with Prescript Assist, it has been the single most effective and directly healing probiotic I
take. I order mine directly from a pharmacy in Germany. Expensive, requires refrigeration.
You can get it in Canada or thru Uriel Pharmacy in US, but it is more expensive than
ordering from Germany. German company has minimum 100 order, so you may want to
get an Rx from your Doc, order a small batch from Uriel to see if it helps, and then order in
bulk from Metropolitan Pharmcy. Here is their contact:
Pharmacy E-Mail: [email protected]
Pharmacy Web: www.metropolitan-pharmacy.com
S.Boulardii: A beneficial species of yeast that can help keep candida in check. 5-10 billion
units/day is good. I use the Jarrow Formulas brand here.
FMT: “Fecal Matter Transplants” - this is the next generation of healing gut & other
diseases, but is still highly regulated by the FDA for political reasons. Here are two good
places to start: http://thepowerofpoop.com/ and http://www.openbiome.org/ There is a
clinic in UK doing these treatments called the Taymount clinic. They may be opening up
wings in Nassau and Mexico. Their website will have info.
Anti-inflammatory & Immune support:
It’s important to look at the total health picture of your body. The gut is central to all of our
other organ systems, and if we’re not absorbing nutrients well a lot can be effected and
create a bit of a viscous cycle where the body can’t get out of it’s rut and heal. Find a good
ND (Naturopathic Doctor) or someone who practices Integrative or Functional Medicine.
Look at overall bloodwork, anemia, iron deficiency, B-vitamin, Vitamin D deficiencies for
evidence of malabsoprtion. Also, testing cortisol levels (saliva test) will give info on your
adrenals. Getting solid sleep is also key to healing, though you probably know this already.
If you take B-vitamin supplements, use the sublingual methyl B12, which is more easily
absorbed. For Vitamin D, try to find “micellized” or “mycellized” vitamin D - also more
bioavailable/readily absorbed by body.
Oren J. Sofer, 2014 ~ For reference only Natural anti-inflammatories I have been taken that come highly recommended:
Curcumin (a bioavailable form of Turmeric): There is not enough research to show
definitively which form of curcumin on the market is the most effective and readily
absorbed. The three main ones are Theracurmin, BCM 95 and Longvida. Here are two links
that you can review and make your own decision. Note that the second one is put out by
the company producing BDM-95, so not necess. objective:
http://truttmd.com/curcumin-update-theracurmin/
http://www.europharmausa.com/files/EM_Curcumin_comparison.pdf
Turmeric (some value in taking the whole food): you can supplement by adding 1/4 tsp of
the straight organic spice powder to foods, or get it in capsule form, which has some other
ingredients that are beneficial,
Glutathione: Powerful anti-oxidant important for healing (expensive). Here are three
brands I have used: Livon Labs GSH, Aurora Glutathione, Acetyl Glutathione.
Fermented Cod Liver Oil: An important natural food source for DHEA and other
building blocks for essential hormones & neurotransmitters in the body. Good for overall
health and in particular for healing when there is a gut dysfunction & malabsoprtion. Blue
Ice is the best brand, shop around as prices vary on-line. The liquid (flavored is best) is the
most economical,
Betaine HCl: Supplementing with this can help with digestion to help stomach acid. This
may help with GERD or acid reflux. It has helped me a lot but you may need to consult
with your doctor about your overall health picture to find if it is an appropriate support.
Make sure you get a brand that has Pepsin with it. Here is a link to a podcast transcript
where it is discussed (scroll down to appropriate section).
Helminthic Therapy: Newer research showing how human hook work (for Chrones),
whip worm (for colitis), and pig whip worm eggs (TTO or TSO) can help put IBD into
remission. Read Moises Manoff’s Book “Epidemic of Absence” and do some research online. I have yet to try this, proceed at your own risk!
Best of luck!
Oren J. Sofer, 2014 ~ For reference only

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