The Gutsy MD

07/26/2022

Patients often ask me what to combine the yogurt with. My answer is: anything! Here I’m getting my daily dose flavored with a succulent, roasted tomato.

07/18/2022

Do not sleep on the bright red liquid. It’s the remnant of the cucumber kimchi that I just consumed. This cold broth is chock full of probiotics and a great boost to human gut health. I drink it in sips, so delicious and healthy.

07/02/2022

The tartness of yogurt is an effect caused by the production of lactic acid by the very bacteria that ferment milk into yogurt. The lactic acid stabilizes the proteins found in milk and allows them to be preserved over time. The lactic acid also creates an acidic environment that is less desirable for the types of bacteria that are associated with the decay of the milk and are more dangerous for human health. The tartness of the yogurt is an indirect measure of both the number as well as the activity of the probiotic bacteria that are fermenting the milk. So don’t shy from tart yogurt, embrace it!

07/01/2022

I counted a total of 20 different types of Miso! Each one of them containing mutiple strains of probiotics designed to help combat gut dysbiosis and the ills of a modern world dependent on livestock raised on antibiotic laden feed.

06/30/2022

Miso based vegan broth with an authentic ramen experience. Tasty and gut microbiota friendly.

01/01/2021

May the New Year usher in an end to this Global madness.

12/20/2020

Lol

04/30/2020

A perplexing and additional challenge in the age of a pandemic.

More and more, people don't care about expert views. That's according to Tom Nichols, author of "The Death of Expertise," who says Americans have become insufferable know-it-alls, locked in constant conflict and debate with others over topics they actually know almost nothing about. Nichols shares h...

04/26/2020

Scientific research is strongly suggesting that the linchpin in the infection of human cells with the virus responsible for Covid 19 may be the ACE2 receptor. ACE2 receptors (angiotensin converting enzyme type two receptors) are found on lung cells and as recently discovered can also be expressed on cells found in the nasal passages. While there are other factors that contribute to the severity of a particular individual’s Covid 19 infection, the inherent number of ACE2 receptor sites appears to be a critical contributor. So who are the individuals likely to have an increased number of receptor sites?

Individuals with COPD, smokers, diabetics, and those with high blood pressure tend to have significantly increased expression of the ACE2 receptor on their lung cells. By giving the virus responsible for Covid 19 more sites to attach to, it is likely a key explanation for why there is such a discrepancy in the manifestations of Covid 19 amongst different individuals.

Per an article published in the Lancet, some research indicates that Asians with hypertension make even more ACE2 receptors. This may explain possible differences in mortality between those afflicted with Covid19 in Asia and those suffering from the same infection in other parts of the world. I want to caution that there are multiple other factors that likely play a role in determining the severity of an individual's Covid19 infection including, native lymphocyte counts and trained immunity. But, the number of receptor sites to which the virus can attach appears to also play critical role in determining the severity of an individual's Covid 19 infection. And it is clear that certain disease states cause a higher proliferation of the ACE2 receptor on lung cells with COPD (emphysema), smoking, diabetes, and hypertension being the most implicated.

Children tend to not manifest the ACE2 receptor until later in life, some scientists estimate it to be around the age of 10 and may explain in part why children appear to be unaffected by the current pandemic.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600(20)30116-8/fulltext

https://www.clinicalomics.com/topics/patient-care/smo

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7113798/

04/22/2020

Immune health begins with sound gut health. Make sure your consumption of prebiotics and fermented foods on a DAILY basis have your immune function primed and ready to fight the good fight!

04/19/2020

This about wraps up the torrent of emotions and thoughts I’m experiencing in the age of Covid.