Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC

Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC Get Healthy - and Get Back to Your Life! Dr. Michael Ruscio, DC is a clinician & researcher Serving patients in the U.S. via Zoom.

With his clinical and research teams, Dr. Ruscio, DC scours existing studies to inform his ongoing clinical research, patient care, and guidance for health seekers and fellow clinicians around the world. His primary focus is digestive health and its impact on other facets of health, including energy, sleep, mood, and thyroid function and optimization. Dr. Ruscio’s, DC research has been published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and he speaks at integrative medical conferences across the globe. While actively seeing patients in his clinic, he also runs an influential blog and podcast, as well as a newsletter for functional medicine practitioners. For more information on how to become a patient, please contact our office.

03/31/2026

Fixing my gut health helped improve my depression, brain fog, and fatigue.

And I didn’t realize at the time they were connected.

What many people don’t realize:

Mood symptoms like:

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Brain fog

• Low motivation

are commonly seen in people with gut dysfunction (including IBS and SIBO).

Even more surprising - you don’t always need obvious digestive symptoms for this to happen.

Gut-targeted treatments - including probiotics and gut-friendly diets - have been shown in clinical trials to improve mood symptoms.

📌 Save this if you’ve struggled with brain fog or low mood

📤 Share this with someone dealing with depression or anxiety that feels unexplained

03/29/2026

Fatigue. Brain fog. Constipation. Bloating.

These are some of the most common symptoms seen in both hypothyroidism and SIBO.

Research has found that hypothyroidism is strongly linked to SIBO.

In a study of 1,800+ patients, hypothyroidism was one of the most tightly associated conditions with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth—more than other expected risk factors like medication use or prior surgery.

Clinical studies suggest that when SIBO and gut health are addressed (including with targeted therapies + probiotics), patients may see:

• Lower TSH levels

• Reduced need for thyroid medication in some cases

• Improved fatigue severity

Healthy foods aren’t supposed to cause bloating.But if you feel worse after vegetables, fruits, or “clean eating”… there...
03/28/2026

Healthy foods aren’t supposed to cause bloating.

But if you feel worse after vegetables, fruits, or “clean eating”… there’s usually a reason.

👉 Research shows 60–80% of people with gut symptoms react to high FODMAP foods—not because the foods are bad, but because of underlying gut imbalances like:

• SIBO

• Dysbiosis

This can lead to bloating, gas, abdominal pain, and fatigue.

It’s often not the food—it’s the gut.

And when the gut improves, food tolerance often improves too.

📌 Save this if you’ve ever felt worse after healthy foods

03/26/2026

IBS bloating isn’t always about “too much gas.”

In many cases, it’s about how sensitive the gut becomes to that pressure.

👉 One key player? Histamine

Histamine is part of the immune and inflammatory response - and research shows it’s strongly involved in IBS symptoms.

Inflammation and histamine can make the gut more sensitive to normal levels of gas.

So you may not be producing more gas -

you may just be feeling it more intensely.

📌 Save this if bloating feels out of proportion to what you eat

03/26/2026

Most people think bloating from “healthy foods” means something is wrong with them.

It doesn’t.

👉 Up to 60–80% of people with gut issues have symptoms triggered by:

Raw vegetables

High FODMAP foods (high prebiotics)

Here’s the missing piece 👇

These foods feed gut bacteria.

And if you have:

Bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)

Dysbiosis (imbalanced gut bacteria)

You’re not feeding your body…

You’re feeding the source of the problem.

That’s why you feel:

→ More bloating

→ More gas

→ More abdominal pain

→ Even fatigue

✔️ Following a Low FODMAP diet can

→ Reduce SIBO

→ Improve IBS symptoms

→ Reduce inflammation + leaky gut

→ Lower histamine levels

💬 Comment LOW and we'll send you our LOWFOD Map Guide.

Menopause doesn’t have to mean feeling out of control. Hormone shifts - declines in estrogen, progesterone, and testoste...
03/25/2026

Menopause doesn’t have to mean feeling out of control. Hormone shifts - declines in estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone - are natural, but they don’t have to dominate your life.

Targeted lifestyle strategies can make a measurable difference: eating nutrient-dense meals, exercising strategically, prioritizing sleep, managing stress, and supporting gut and liver health all help your body process and balance hormones more effectively.

By addressing these factors, you can reduce hot flashes, fatigue, mood swings, and other common symptoms, turning menopause from a time of struggle into a transition you navigate with clarity and energy. Your hormones can work for you, not against you.

03/24/2026

Most “complex” gut cases aren’t random. There’s a pattern.

When a patient comes in with:
✔️ IBS
✔️ Chronic nausea
✔️ “Every symptom checked”

That’s a signal—not a mystery.

One overlooked root cause? Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).

Here’s how clinicians may start connecting the dots:
→ Symptom patterns across multiple systems
→ Targeted lab testing (blood + urine)
→ Trial of mast cell support (response = key clue)
→ Simple in-office checks (heart rate changes, joint flexibility)

But here’s where it gets even more interesting…

Patients who have struggled with long-term anxiety, mood issues, or other psychological symptoms may actually have an underlying physiological driver.

Emerging evidence shows:
When MCAS is addressed → psychological symptoms can significantly improve.

If your symptoms feel widespread, inconsistent, or “hard to explain”… there may be a unifying root cause worth exploring.

Follow our Instagram for root-cause gut health content.

03/22/2026

Adequate protein intake supports both brain and muscle health.

A 2022 observational study following more than 77,000 people over 20 years found that higher protein intake was associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline.

The optimal intake in this study was roughly 20% of total calories from protein.

For many people, that translates to roughly:

• ~100g protein per day on a 2,000 calorie diet

• ~150g protein per day on a 3,000 calorie diet

A practical way to reach this target is aiming for 30–50 grams of protein per meal.

This becomes even more important with aging.

As we get older, the body becomes more anabolically resistant, meaning it becomes harder to build and maintain muscle. Maintaining muscle mass is strongly associated with overall health and longevity.

Prioritizing adequate protein intake is a simple strategy that can support both brain function and healthy aging.

IBS isn’t written in your genes. Genetics play only a minor role in who develops IBS. Family studies show slightly highe...
03/20/2026

IBS isn’t written in your genes. Genetics play only a minor role in who develops IBS. Family studies show slightly higher prevalence among relatives, but DNA alone is a weak predictor.

Lifestyle, diet, stress, antibiotics, and gut microbiome imbalances are the real drivers of IBS. This is encouraging because it means your symptoms are modifiable. By focusing on gut health, stress management, and nutrition, you can influence IBS outcomes and regain digestive balance. Your IBS story is shaped by what you do, not just what you inherit.

03/20/2026

Many chronic symptoms are treated separately.

A patient may see an ENT for tinnitus, a neurologist for migraines, a rheumatologist for fibromyalgia, and a gastroenterologist for IBS.

But sometimes these symptoms are connected.

Researchers have identified a cluster of conditions that frequently overlap:

• Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS)

• POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome)

• Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS)

This combination has been called the “triad” because the conditions often appear together and affect multiple body systems.

When clinicians evaluate the whole picture instead of treating isolated symptoms, it can help uncover root contributors that might otherwise go undiagnosed.

SIBO isn’t rare in IBS - it’s incredibly common. Research shows up to 78% of IBS patients have small intestinal bacteria...
03/18/2026

SIBO isn’t rare in IBS - it’s incredibly common. Research shows up to 78% of IBS patients have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. These bacteria disrupt digestion, causing bloating, gas, abdominal pain, and irregular bowel movements - the same symptoms that define IBS.

Addressing bacterial overgrowth can dramatically reduce symptoms, because it targets the root cause rather than masking discomfort. Testing for SIBO provides clarity and guides precise interventions that support gut health and long-term relief. Understanding your gut is the first step toward reclaiming digestive comfort and confidence in your health.

03/18/2026

Gluten sensitivity isn’t limited to celiac disease.

Research has shown that some people with IBS experience increased intestinal permeability (often called “leaky gut”) after consuming gluten. In one randomized study, the strongest effect occurred in individuals carrying specific genetic markers linked to celiac disease (HLA-DQ2 or HLA-DQ8).

This suggests that for a subset of people, gluten can trigger low-grade gut inflammation and barrier dysfunction, even when celiac disease is not present.

At the same time, gluten-containing foods are also high in FODMAPs, which means symptoms can sometimes come from carbohydrate intolerance rather than gluten itself.

So what does this mean?

Food triggers vary widely. Identifying the true driver of symptoms is the most important.

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