WellBelly

24/01/2023

Streamlined Recovery of Digestive Health

Recently I discovered GI Balance by Xymogen, a supplement which simplifies the effective protocol I developed to treat clients with digestive problems,

When the capacity to absorb nutrients is compromised….your health is compromised,
Recovering gut health is a complex endeavor with multiple targets to cleanse, heal and restore gut function.

GI Balance combines the scope of supplements in my protocol which I used to effectively treat hundred of clients over 20 years in practice as a clinical nutritionist.

If the holidays have taken a toll on your gut health, I recommend combining Gi Balance with a probiotic (ProbioMax) and a digestive enzyme (Xymozyme) to launch your new year of optimal health.

GI Balance, ProbioMax and Xymozyme are only available through a practitioner, Click on this link, https://wellbelly.net/e-store/, to place an order with a 10% discount using my unique access codes.

10/10/2021

Can You Get Over Your Food Issues?
A recent New York Times article (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/15/well/eat/can-you-get-over-a-food-intolerance.html) response to this question illuminated the complexity of managing food intolerances and allergies and did not offer much optimism for recovery.

My twenty years of focusing on digestive health I have observed a few steps that while not a cure for food intolerances does make living with them much easier:
1. First know what disturbs your digestion through either laboratory analysis or food elimination diet.
2. Strictly eliminate the offending foods for 90 days giving your GI tract and immune system a chance to calm down.
3. With the help of a functional medicine doctor of nutritionist rule out infections of bacteria in the small intestine (SIBO), leaky-gut syndrome and/or yeast overgrowth, (candida). Treat these imbalances as indicated.
4. Nearly all of my clients benefited from the use of digestive enzymes and 50% needed HCL betaine, too. Selecting the right digestive support varies by your individual needs. For my personal favorites, email a request for my recommendations to drsandy@wellbelly.net.
5. Given the daily assaults on our digestive tract, such as food additives, pesticides and fungicides combat the assault with a daily pre/probitoic combination supplement derived from human (no soil derived) strains of healthy bacteria.

Once you have improved the equilibrium in your digestion you will find that may be able to tolerate REASONABLE amounts of foods that you were not previously able to eat without reactions.
Not a cure, but harmony with food can greatly improve.

29/08/2021

AGING and YOUR PROBIOTIC

A recent article in the NYT reports on an association of between longevity and an evolving microbial composition. Seniors studied who had a static microbiome appeared to die earlier while those whose gut microbiome transformed over the years were healthier and lived longer.

As a digestive health consultant I have observed over the years that clients do best when they rotate their probiotic. My recommendation is (1) to choose a probiotic/prebiotic comprised of human strains (not soil based) from a reliable brand and (2) change brands every three months.

Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/well/eat/microbiome-aging.html

20/07/2021

Your Mood Depends on Your Gut

Researchers have worked to unravel the delicate, complex, connections between the gut and the brain

This gut-brain axis (the connection between the human gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota and the brain) is a bidirectional communication involving many organ systems.

Bio-directional communication means that this two-way communication can be seen in how chronic psychological stress impacts the function of the gut AND conversely, gut disorders (irritable bowel, nutrient absorption and the innate immune system) can influence the function of the brain including mood and neurological disorders such as depression, anxiety.

Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and catecholamines are active in the brain as well as in the gut impacting hormone balance in the brain as well as regulating gut function.

A functional medicine approach is well suited to bring balance in this complex biological relationship by combining individualized lifestyle tools of nutrition and stress resilience with balancing the microbiota and supporting digestive competence.

14/07/2021

FIX the GUT/FIX the BRAIN
Slash your risk for developing dementia in half

Research, published online in the journal GUT, compared the risk for dementia (age 45 and older) with IBD (irritable bowel disease). IBD is a catch-all diagnosis for a range of inflammatory gastrointestinal conditions.

Over the course of 16 years, this study compared !,742 older adults with IBD and 17.420 controls matched for s*x, access to healthcare and demential related comorbid conditions.

The rate of dementia for those with IBD was four times greater than the controls. In addition, the IBD patients were diagnosed with dementia at the mean age of 76.2 years versus the average age of 83.5 years among the controls.

This study demonstrates that a Well Belly is essential for a Well Brain. Functional medicine practitioners are specifically trained to see how all biological systems interact to help you recover your Well Body.

14/03/2021

Healthy Belly....Healthy Body.

The health of the community of microbes living in and on our bodies—100 trillion single-cell organisms, outnumbering human cells 10 to 1—has become a top priority.⁣
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Meanwhile, modern living and our bad lifestyle choices have been hard on those little bugs. The standard western diet is impoverished of the things our beneficial gut bacteria require. All the chemicals from processed foods and the environmental toxins we take in only make the situation worse. ⁣
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Our guts become damaged when we eat a processed diet that’s high in sugar and starch, don’t eat enough of the right fiber and prebiotics, or take too many gut-busting drugs (like antibiotics, acid blockers for reflux, anti-inflammatories, hormones, and more). Think of your gut as an inner garden; just as with any garden—when you let the weeds take over, you get into trouble.⁣
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It’s our job to encourage the good microbes by feeding them the things they need and avoiding the things that damage them. Not surprisingly, good bacteria love healthy whole, organic, plant-based foods, ones that are high in fiber and nutrients and contain no artificial ingredients. ⁣

29/07/2020

Prilosec & COVID Risk

A recent study found that proton pump inhibitors (Prilosec, Prevacid, Protonix, Aciphex, Nexium and Dexilant) are associated with a 115% increase in the risk for contracting COVID-19. Taken twice a day, risk increases to 267%.

Why? Stomach acid is your body’s first line of defense against pathogens entering the body. Reducing stomach acid lets down your body’s natural protection, therefore increasing your risk for a wide range of potential infections.

H2 blockers, (Pepcid, Tagamet and Zantac) which specifically decreases acid released in the evening did not have the same increase in infection rate, (most likely because COVID exposure is less at night while you are sleeping).

Reducing stomach acid, also, interferes with absorption of minerals and digestion of proteins.
If you suffer from GERD or acid reflux, a nutrition/digestive health specialist can improve your health and relieve the need for both proton inhibitors and H2 blockers.