Walden Consulting - To Living Well

10/29/2025

The Olive Standard of Health... Who Knew? A new company is emerging rapidly to extend "Blue Zone" health secrets to others. With products built around centuries-old knowledge and infused with current science around all-natural phytonutrients, Oliabo is launching to help us all feel better, look better, and (for those that want it...) earn more. See the link below.

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10/28/2025

Research into the Gut-Brain Axis is increasing. So many insights into what happens and how to improve our health.

Influence of Microbiota on Mood and Mental Health
Jeremy Appleton
• Copyright and License information
PMCID: PMC6469458 PMID: 31043907
Abstract
The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional communication network that links the enteric and central nervous systems. This network is not only anatomical, but it extends to include endocrine, humoral, metabolic, and immune routes of communication as well. The autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, and nerves within the gastrointestinal tract, all link the gut and the brain, allowing the brain to influence intestinal activities, including activity of functional immune effector cells; and the gut to influence mood, cognition, and mental health.

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06/28/2025

Rheumatoid arthritis linked to changes in the gut microbiome in new study

Changes in the gut microbiome may be a tell-tale sign of the onset of rheumatoid arthritis. Image credit: Instants/Getty Images.
• As of 2020, about 17.6 million people globally were living with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease causing painful inflammation and swelling in joints.
• Scientists are still not sure as to the exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis. New research suggests that certain changes to the gut microbiome may be linked to the development of this condition.
• The study authors believe their findings offer a potential new pathway for new early preventative strategies for rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis linked to changes in the gut microbiome in new study

See study details in comments below.

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07/15/2024

From GreenMedInfo, an intriguing article on how Vitamin D3 has been shown to address chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract, also affecting the gut-brain axis, anxiety, mood, and depression. Enjoy!

() Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, presents significant challenges for patients and clinicians alike. Characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, it can cause debilitating symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fatigue.

06/20/2024

Best laid plans... (recovery is going well!) Here's an item on the impact of gut flora on the very young.

Disturbances in Gut Flora Linked to Autism, ADHD Development
Published in the journal Cell earlier in April, a new study suggests certain biomarkers can be used to diagnose and treat these disorders early in life.
(nobeastsofierce/Shutterstock)

By Amie Dahnke
4/25/2024
Updated:
4/25/2024
Are you what you eat?
A new study indicates that disturbances in gut flora during a person’s early years could be connected with the development of certain neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Published in the journal Cell earlier in April, the study results suggest certain biomarkers can be used to diagnose and treat these disorders early in life.
Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Children
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 6 million American children have been diagnosed with ADHD. Signs include a persistent pattern of inattention, hyperactivity, or impulsivity that interferes with a child’s functioning. For example, a child might struggle with organizing tasks or activities, get easily distracted, have trouble waiting their turn, or be unable to play or participate in leisure activities quietly. Such signs must be present for over six months to warrant an ADHD diagnosis, the CDC says.
Autism can be more challenging to diagnose. The CDC reports that about one in 36 children have an autism spectrum disorder. Like ADHD, autism spectrum disorder is more common among boys than girls. Diagnosis typically hinges upon whether a child meets developmental milestones in the early years of their life. Signs of autism can appear as early as 18 months to two years, but a child may not be diagnosed until they are an adolescent or older.
Deficits in Specific Gut Bacteria May Signal Disorders
Part of the difficulty in identifying ADHD or autism lies in a lack of biomarkers. However, the new study offers insight into a new potential biomarker in the gut flora.
Researchers from the University of Florida and Linköping University in Sweden followed more than 16,000 babies born in southeast Sweden between October 1997 and October 1999 from birth to their 20s. The research team collected comprehensive data, including biological samples, cord serum, and stool samples. Participants also completed questionnaires detailing family medical history, diet, lifestyle factors, and environmental exposures.
The research team found distinct differences in the gut microbiota of infants who later developed neurodevelopmental disorders compared to infants who did not. Specifically, certain bacteria like Citrobacter were more prevalent in children later diagnosed, while Coprococcus was more prevalent in children not diagnosed. Additionally, children likely to develop austism or ADHD lacked abundant Akkermansia muciniphila and Bifidobacterium breve, which are known for maintaining gut health, the researchers noted. The correlation with future diagnosis was strong, even after the researchers accounted for confounding factors established in the questionnaires, such as diet, environment, and toxic exposures.

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05/03/2024

It's long past time that I reactivate this page. Too much important information has emerged. A site new to me is GreenMedInfo. Their recent article on the average 2500 deaths each and every day caught my attention. Any chance something will be done, or shall we use Plan B when we can? The Deadly Cost of Prescription Drugs: How Natural Alternatives Could Save Lives
Posted on:
Friday, April 19th 2024 at 3:00 am
Written By:
GreenMedInfo Research Group
This article is copyrighted by GreenMedInfo LLC, 2024
Visit our Re-post guidelines

In a medical system that claims to "first, do no harm," a silent epidemic of pharmaceutical deaths is claiming hundreds of thousands of American lives each year. Meanwhile, the very substances demonized as dangerous - vitamins and minerals - have a pristine safety record. It's time to re-examine our deadly dependence on drugs and embrace the healing power of nature.
Prescription Drugs: The Leading Killer Hiding in Plain Sight
In a provocative analysis, Dr. Peter Gøtzsche, co-founder of the prestigious Cochrane Collaboration, has identified a shocking hidden epidemic: prescription drugs, he calculates, are now the leading cause of death in the United States, surpassing both heart disease and cancer.1
Gøtzsche's findings, published on the Brownstone Institute website, are based on a rigorous review of FDA adverse event data, placebo-controlled clinical trials, and large epidemiological studies. He estimates that the various classes of pharmaceutical drugs - from psychiatric medications to painkillers - are responsible for a staggering 882,000 U.S. deaths annually.2
Among the most lethal culprits Gøtzsche identifies are psychiatric drugs, which he implicates in hundreds of thousands of premature deaths each year. Drawing on data from clinical trials and observational studies, he estimates an annual mortality rate of 2% for antipsychotics in the elderly, 2% for benzodiazepines and "Z-drugs" used for insomnia, and 2% for SSRI antidepressants in older adults.3,4,5,6,7
Extrapolating these mortality rates to the number of Americans over 65 taking psychiatric drugs, Gøtzsche calculates that these medications alone cause 390,000 deaths in this age group annually. When combined with estimated deaths from adverse drug events in hospitals (315,000), prescription opioid overdoses (70,000), and NSAID-related gastrointestinal bleeding and heart attacks (107,000), the pharmaceutical death toll reaches a mind-boggling 882,000 lives per year.2
These numbers, as shocking as they are, may even underestimate the true extent of the problem. Gøtzsche points out that most drug-related fatalities occur outside hospital settings and are rarely attributed to the medications on death certificates.2 Moreover, the FDA's voluntary adverse event reporting system is known to capture only a small fraction of serious reactions.15
Perhaps most disturbingly, Gøtzsche contends that many, if not most, of these pharmaceutical deaths are preventable, as the drugs are often unnecessary or marginally effective. He points to evidence that widely prescribed psychiatric drugs and painkillers often show minimal therapeutic benefit over placebo in clinical trials.2

03/04/2024

So glad to see Dr. Mark Hyman, Functional Medicine, with great information and help to strengthen our gut microbiome. This is key to our health and longevity.

Of all the body’s systems, the gut ecosystem might be the most complex—and, perhaps, the most critical to longevity and disease prevention. Though medicine has long dismissed the gut as […]

12/24/2022

Building capacity to serve. Improving mental wellness is vital to so many today, and it's within reach of us all.

At no time in human history have we ever been so “advanced” technologically and yet so miserable psychologically. It’s no exaggeration to describe stress, depression, anxiety, and burnout as epidemics – literally the “Black Plague” of our modern times. A Certified Mental Wellness Coach w...

12/24/2022

Always a favorite graphic to convey the importance of a healthy gut:

Recent studies suggest bacteria in our digestive tract can play a large role in our overall health.

01/27/2022

GBX Fit Program for Weight Loss
Move - Eat - Sleep
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01/25/2022

From Gut Microbiota for Health Newsletter:

Strong Microbiome Protects Against COVID-19?

Very nice article in the GMFH Newsletter (gut microbiota for health) about the relationships between our gut microbiota and COVID-19.
You can read the original article HERE and see my highlighted version with comments below.

What do we know about the relationship between our gut microbiota and COVID-19?
COVID-19 primarily attacks the respiratory system. However, the links between the latter, your digestive tract and immune system make an examination of the role of nutrition and the gut microbiota in the fight against the virus relevant. (DocTalbott note = the links across the Gut-Brain-Axis show very strong relationships between what happens in the GUT (overall digestive function, gut integrity, and microbiome balance); and what happens in the BRAIN (including focus, stress response and overall mood); and these signals are transmitted across the AXIS (including the immune system and inflammatory cascade).


It is hardly news that one important way by which the new coronavirus strain (called SARS-CoV-2) affects people’s health is by weakening the respiratory tract, from the nose to the lungs.
But as scientists become more familiar with the virus, they are also finding out that the body’s immune and digestive systems might be also affected.
Why it is worth taking the gut microbiota into account in the fight against COVID-19?

The idea that bodily organs and tissues opened to the outside are connected is not new. For instance, the lungs and gut microbiota influence each other and that relationship may keep your lungs healthy. (DocTalbott note = some of our research has shown that improvements in gut-brain-axis and heart-brain-axis parameters also improve lung function.)

In this case, scientists have reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in the stool samples of people who have the virus. Furthermore, some COVID-19 patients showed an altered gut microbiota composition with decreased beneficial bacteria, which included Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

“[Although] there is no way our gut microbiome could exert direct protection against COVID-19, we have very good evidence that there is a very close relationship between the microbiota and the immune system. A balanced healthy microbiota promotes immune homeostasis*, hence avoiding hyper-reactivity [of a person’s immune system],” acknowledged INRAE Research Director Joël Doré via email.

A healthy gut microbiome could prevent immune overreactions to COVID-19

Considering the gastrointestinal manifestations of the COVID-19 infection and the gut microbiota’s role in the body’s immune response to viral infections, scientists suspect that a healthy gut microbiome might help prevent pro-inflammatory immune reactions in the lungs and other vital organs infected by COVID-19.
“Taking care of our gut health and especially nurturing a highly diverse microbiota through a dietary intake rich in a wide range of plant sources, fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts will favor a robust immune system and indirectly increase our ability to fight viral attacks in every organ, including the lungs,” highlighted Joël Doré.

How might probiotics and prebiotics fare in fighting the current coronavirus pandemic?

Within diet, probiotics and prebiotics may play an important role in regulating the functioning of the immune system’s response via the gut microbiota, which in turn influences the immune system.
While probiotics have been shown to reduce flu-like respiratory tract infections, China’s National Health Commission and National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine suggested the use of probiotics in patients with severe COVID-19 to prevent secondary bacterial infection.

Joël Doré acknowledged: “In addition to a diverse protective commensal microbiota, certain strains of probiotics are known to exert activities that empower the immune system. They have their place in a preventive arsenal, together with appropriate nutrition and gut-barrier reinforcing, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant strategies.”

Like probiotics, fermentable dietary fiber could also optimize immune defense against viral infections, as revealed by a mice study in which a day diet high in soluble fiber led to a reduced lung viral load and increased survival.

Although what you eat won’t stop you getting infected with COVID-19, looking after your gut microbiota with a well-balanced diet that includes probiotics and prebiotics when necessary for supporting digestive wellbeing will help keep your immune system in good shape.

*Gut immune homeostasis is the state in which our immune system protects us from pathogens while remaining harmless against our microbiota, food and other environmental components.
References:
Kissler SM, Tedijanto C, Goldstein E, et al. Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the postpandemic period. Science. 2020; eabb5793. doi: 10.1126/science. abb5793.

Pan L, Mu M, Yang P, et al. Clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients with digestive symptoms in Hubei, China: a descriptive, cross-sectional, multicenter study. Am J Gastroenterol. 2020; 115. doi: 10.14309/ajg.0000000000000620.

Enaud R, Prevel R, Ciarlo E, et al. The gut-lung axis in health and respiratory diseases: a place for inter-organ and inter-kingdom crosstalks. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020; 10:9. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00009.

Xu K, Cai H, Shen Y, et al. Management of corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19): the Zhejiang experience. Zhejiang Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2020; 49(1):0.

Gou W, Fu Y, Yue L, et al. Gut microbiota may underlie the predisposition of healthy individuals to COVID-19. doi: 10.1101/2020.04.22.20076091 [Preprint]. 2020 [cited 2020 April 27]. Available from: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.04.22.20076091v1

Mak JWY, Chan FKL, Ng SC. Probiotics and COVID-19: one size does not fit all. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020. doi: 10.1016/S2468-1253(20)30122-9.

The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading globally with high disparity in the susceptibility of the disease severity. Identification of the key underlying factors for this disparity is highly warranted. Here we describe constructing a proteomic risk score based on 20 blood proteomic biomarkers which predic...

01/15/2022

The Powerful Purple Pill. Amare's GBX Fit supports the gut microbiome to achieve weight loss. All natural and diet-free.

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