This or That?

Which is best for your health?

Healthy eating goal

My general dietary advice is to follow a low carb, low sugar diet. I also recommend avoiding unhealthy fats and consuming plenty of nutritious whole foods and vegetables. Following this as much as possible is ideal, but of course occasionally rules get broken.

Making choices while out

With the warm summer weather on its way, as well as the King’s Coronation and bank holidays approaching, there tends to be more socialising, disrupting our usual eating pattern.

When you’re under the care of a Naturopath, or taking care to follow a healthy diet, or on a treatment program, it’s easy to worry about undoing all the good work if you stray. You can minimise this by making good choices when out. Remember too that if rules are broken, just get back into your routine and the gains are there to be had.

Simple switches & choices you can make

Restore Gut Health With Probiotics, Prebiotics & Fermented Food

Take care of your gut to look after nearly every aspect of our health

It might seem strange that gut health can impact how we feel emotionally, our susceptibility to urinary tract infections, migraines, acne, autoimmune conditions and even our predisposition to serious disease. But, the bottom line is, it’s key in all these conditions and many, many more.

Gut bacteria

We all have trillions of bacteria living inside us, most of which is in our gut, and the majority are harmless. What’s more, some are helpful. But, there are a small number that are not healthy and can cause or contribute to disease.

Gut microbiome

Our gastrointestinal tract is colonized by many microorganisms, not just bacteria, but also archaea, viruses, fungi and protozoa. These microorganisms make up what we call the gut microbiota, microbiome or intestinal microflora, and can have a profound effect on our health.

Everyone has their own unique microbiome, impacted over time by illness, stress and antibiotic use.

Benefits of healthy bacteria

Making sure your gut bacteria is healthy and in balance is a vital step in optimising our health. It can’t be overstated.

Probiotics work by changing the balance of your gut bacteria. The goal is that the good bacteria crowd out the bad in your intestine. In turn, this stops the bad bacteria from multiplying and causing infection and inflammation issues.

An example of how this works, is how a healthy, well-balanced gut, will keep yeast at lower levels to help prevent yeast overgrowth.

Some of the benefits you might experience can include:

• weight loss
• improved digestion
• enhanced immunity
• skin improvements
• reduced risk of some diseases

How to improve gut bacteria

Colonising your gut with good microorganisms or healthy bacteria can be done either with supplements or diet, such as:

• Probiotic supplements, which are friendly bacteria that come in a range of strains and potencies.
• Fermented foods
• Prebiotics

Probiotics

I often use probiotics in my practice. The main reason for this is that I know that the best suited strain can be taken consistently at a specified dose. However, fermented foods and prebiotics are really helpful and great to take also.

Strains of probiotics

Not surprisingly, there are many strains of probiotics. Research has found that certain strains help more specifically with certain conditions, such as weight loss or depression.

Spore-forming, soil-based probiotics are a notable type of probiotic that are gaining momentum, and something I often use.

Here are some common probiotic strains:

• Bacillus coagulans
• Bacillus subtilis
• Bifidobacterium bifidum
• Bacillus clausii
• Lactobacillus acidophilus
• Lactobacillus fermentum
• Lactobacillus gasseri
• Lactobacillus plantarum
• Lactobacillus reuteri
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus
• Lactobacillus sporogenes
• Saccharomyces boulardii

Which probiotics should you take?

Strains can be matched to individual health conditions, such as the following:

• Bowel infection

  For example if someone has a bowel infection after the use of antibiotics, such as Clostridium difficile (C. diff), Saccharomyces boulardii is very well suited to target this. It has other specific uses too, and is something I frequently use in addressing Candida overgrowth and diarrhoea.

• Weight loss

  There are several areas I look at to help with weight loss, but gut bacteria is one of them. There are 5-6 strains that can be looked at to help with weight loss. One notable type is the two strains of Lactobacillus gasseri, BNR17 and SBT2055. This has been found to be effective in reducing weight and increasing fat loss.
  – A 2010 study found that Lactobacillus gasseri SBT2055 helped reduce bodyweight, abdominal fat, subcutaneous fat, BMI, and hip and waist circumference after 12 weeks.
  – Another study in 2018 found that high dose supplementation with Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17 significantly decreased visceral fat tissue. Both high and low dose BNR17 supplementation significantly reduced waist circumference after 12 weeks.

• Immune function

  Again there are many ways naturopathically to help boost immunity. Probitics are an important part of this, with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium lactis being two of the best strains for this.

Fermented foods

A serve of fermented foods such as sauerkraut and Kieffer can actually have more probiotics in them than a capsule. However, where targeted strains are needed, I opt for supplements. Having said this, fermented foods are very beneficial and shall be the subject of another newsletter.

Prebiotics

These help to set up the environment for probiotics to flourish. Including prebiotics in your diet is an excellent way to help restore a healthy microbiome. I recommend trying to include prebiotic foods such as chicory root, dandelion green, Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus and bananas in your diet.

Stool tests

One of the great ways to determine the condition of your gut flora and gut health is through a GI360 test. These are available through my practice and I can advise you on the results and recommended steps to rebalance and optimise gut flora and gut health.

Is Your Gut Affecting Your Health

When gut health is compromised it can have a domino affect across our health, often without obvious symptoms and impacting multiple areas of our life

Bowel health is something I talk about a lot because it’s such a frequent underlying cause or contributing factor behind so many health problems; it can’t be over emphasised. For example, headaches, skin problems, urinary tract issues, sinus problems and more are often related. 70% of our immune system is tied up with the gut bacteria, so when this is out of balance it has a ripple affect.

I’ve put together a questionnaire below. It’s worth noting that anybody can have some of these occassionally, such as a headache or upset tummy, but when symptoms become troublesome or chronic, and where you notice two or more, it is a good idea to address your gut health.

Gut Heath Checklist

1. Do you experience constipation often?
2. Do you experience diarrhoea otten?
3. Do you have IBS (swings between constipation and loose bowels)?
4. Do you experience uncomfortable or frequent burping?
5. Do you have excessive wind?
6. Do you experience bloating or abdominal pain?
7. Have you taken antibiotics before?
8. Have you had food poisoning before?
9. Have you had a bowel infection before, such as C. Diff?
10. Do you have skin problems?
    1. Acne
    2. Rosacea
    3. Dermatitis
    4. Psoriasis
    5. Eczema
11. Do you experience regular headache issues?
12. Do you have recurrent or chronic urinary tract issues?
13. Do you have fungal or Candida issues?
14. Do you have trouble with Bacterial Vaginosis?

Natural medicine is a wonderful way to help rebalance and correct bowel health. There are a wide range of targeted and specific probiotics, as well as antifungals, antibacterials and herbs to sooth and health the gut wall.

Iridology is useful for picking up issues with the digestive tract, and in some cases further testing, such as a stool test, can be benefiial.

Please get in touch if you would like any help in these areas.

U-Turn on Fats & Oils

Low fat diets are outdated and unhealthy. What’s more, some fats are pro-health and help protect us from heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cognitive decline & much more

Supermarket shelves are still lined with packaged foods that are ‘Low Fat’, ‘Cholesterol Lowering’, ‘Lite’ and more, in line with the idea that a low fat diet is healthy.

Dated Advice

This is a legacy from 1980s health advice. Mounting evidence today is turning this advice on its head. In fact, the potential health consequences of following such a diet are only now being examined and coming to light.

Recent research (The Lancet Study) found that low fat diets could raise the risk of early death by nearly 25%. 135,000 adults took part, and those who restricted intake of fats had much shorter lives than those who enjoyed butter, cheese and meat.

Health Impact of a Low Fat Diet

The National Obesity Forum together with the Public Health Collaboration have made a call for a “major overhaul” of current dietary guidelines, which encourage a low-fat diet. In their report, which is based on 43 studies, they found that:

• High fat diets are preferable in relation to weight loss
• Calorie counting is not beneficial
• Exercise doesn’t compensate for the wrong diet
• Saturated fat doesn’t cause heart disease
• Avoid processed foods labelled ‘low fat’ or ‘low cholesterol’
• Snacking contributes to weight gain

Dr Aseem Malhotra (Consultant cardiologist) said it was time “for a complete U-turn” in Britain’s approach to diet, and demonization of fat. The sooner we do that the sooner we reverse the epidemic in obesity and diabetes and the sooner start improving health.”

Change in Public Policy

Public policy is hard to change for many reasons, such as industry interests, threat to public trust in Government agencies and advice, and careers being tied in with certain recommendations. While response to the report was mixed, Public Health England’s chief nutritionist, Alison Tedstone, PhD said recommending a high-fat, low-carb diet as “irresponsible and potentially deadly,”

Good Fats and Bad Fats

Not all fats are equal, and some fats are harmful, while others are absolutely vital for good health. The main fats to go out of your way to avoid are trans fats and highly refined polyunsaturated omega-6 vegetable oils. To avoid such fats involves checking labels on packaged foods.

Fats to Enjoy

• Olives and olive oil (use it cold, not to be cooked with)
• Coconuts and coconut oil (can withstand higher temperatures without oxidizing)
• Organic, grass fed butter
• Raw nuts (avoid peanuts)
• Seeds
• Avocados
• Grass-fed, preferably organic meats
• Ghee (clarified butter)
• Eggs
• Omega-3 fats

Fats to Avoid

Highly refined vegetable oils: eg sunflower oil, palm oil, peanut oil, soy oil, canola oil, rapeseed oil, margarine – most supermarket pre-baked goods contain these, such as biscuits, mass produced bread, potato chips, cakes, pastries, etc.

Feedback from my clients is that most are still told by doctors and dieticians that they should avoid animal fats and eat vegetable oils and margarine to help protect particularly against heart disease. Recent research shows that heart disease is not contributed to by animal fats, but by excess carbohydrates and sugars. This can become confusing and is controversial. If you would like to speak to me about this in more detail please get in touch, you can also do more research online and examine for yourself the research that is throwing this advice into question. When under the care of your doctor for particular health conditions, I recommend staying in touch with them about any changes you wish to make.

If you have questions about how to include healthy fats in your diet please get in touch, I’m very happy to discuss it with you.

Step Up Your Health For the New Year

Start with just one resolution & feel the change

Happy new year! New year is a good time to step back and see how your health is and how you are feeling in yourself. Ask yourself these questions:

1) How do you feel when you wake up in the morning?

2) Do you want to feel healthier and have more energy?

3) Are there specific issues with your health you want to correct?

There are so many things you can do improve your health, from simple lifestyle steps to more complex. I have listed a range of things below, each of which can make a real and sometimes dramatic change to how a person can feel. See if there is anything on the list you are not doing and pick one to focus on. If there are specific things you would like to deal with then please contact me and I’m very happy to help you with that.

1) Exercise and fresh air. The importance of this really can’t be overstated. What’s more, it can really revialize and help you to feel fresh and energized.

2) Eating predominately fresh and unprocessed foods. For example, cooking from scratch and limiting packaged foods.

3) Avoiding refined sugar, heavy carbohydrate-based meals, and food intolerances.

4) Drinking plenty of pure water.

5) Adding vegetable juices to your daily routine.

6) Taking a good quality daily multivitamin/mineral supplement.

7) Taking specific remedies to correct underlying causes of existing health conditions.

8) Intermittent fasting, such as only eating during a 6 to 8 hour window per day, which you can also describe as fasting for 18 or 16 hours per day. Get in touch before fasting, as you will have your own individual requirement for, depending on your health status and age for example.

Wishing you the very best for 2023.