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Your gut is not just a digestion system, it is one of the most powerful control centers in your body. In this episode, Dr. Taz explains how the gut lining, bile, digestive enzymes, and microbiome all work together to shape your hormones, mood, weight, and inflammation. You will learn why gut health is still not standard of care in conventional medicine, how stress, toxins, sleep, and even popular GLP 1 drugs change the microbiome, and what that means for conditions like anxiety, depression, perimenopause, menopause, and stubborn belly fat.
Your gut is not just a digestion system, it is one of the most powerful control centers in your body. In this episode, Dr. Taz explains how the gut lining, bile, digestive enzymes, and microbiome all work together to shape your hormones, mood, weight, and inflammation. You will learn why gut health is still not standard of care in conventional medicine, how stress, toxins, sleep, and even popular GLP 1 drugs change the microbiome, and what that means for conditions like anxiety, depression, perimenopause, menopause, and stubborn belly fat.
Dr. Taz shares:
• Why ancient systems called the gut "ground zero" and modern research is finally catching up
• The four pillars of gut health: gut lining, digestive enzymes and stomach acid, bile flow, and a diverse microbiome
• How leaky gut, SIBO, candida, and low diversity bacteria drive inflammation, brain fog, rashes, and chronic symptoms
• The gut brain axis and why up to 90 percent of serotonin and other neurotransmitters are made in the gut
• How butyrate and beta glucuronidase affect estrogen recycling, perimenopause, and andropause, leading to estrogen dominance and hormone shifts
• The links between microbiome balance, circadian rhythm, GLP 1 medications, and metabolic syndrome and weight gain
• A practical step by step protocol using diet changes, collagen, glutamine, enzymes, probiotics, fermented foods, sleep, and stress tools to rebuild gut health
Whether you are dealing with mood changes, hormone chaos, weight that will not budge, or unexplained symptoms that never fully resolve, this episode gives you a clear roadmap to understand your gut and start rebuilding your microbiome from the inside out.
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Host & Production Team
Host & Production Team
Host: Dr. Taz; Produced by ClipGrowth.com (Producer: Pat Gostek)
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Host
What is hol+ by Dr. Taz MD?
2025 Webby honoree and pioneering show, hol+ enters the next dimension of health-exploring where science and spirit converge to drive our human experience.
After three successful seasons and a Webby nomination, the hol+ show with Dr. Taz MD continues to lead pioneering and challenging conversations around healing, healthcare and the future of medicine.
Recent guests include mental health advocate and author, Sophie Gregorie Trudeau, best-selling author, Katherine Schwarzenegger, Emmy-winning host, actor, and health enthusiast, Cameron Mathison, supermodel Carol Alt, veteran actress and sometimes medicine woman, Jane Seymour, author and journalist, Tamsen Fadal, wellness advocate and cancer thriver, Kris Carr.
From cutting-edge and innovative experts to celebrities and thought leaders, veteran TV personality, author, and double board-certified physician, Dr. Taz MD, the host of hol+, leads game-changing conversations around health, healing, family and community.
On the heels of her successful 8-year-long podcast, Super Woman Wellness, which boasted over 1 million downloads, hol+ continues to be recognized as a show to watch, recognized in the same category as the Mel Robbins Podcast in the 29th Annual Webby Awards.
[00:00:00] Before we start, I want you to know that I actually want to hear from you after this [00:00:05] episode. Message me on Instagram at Dr. Taz md and tell me your biggest [00:00:10] takeaway. That's how I build future episodes of Whole Plus Real Questions, [00:00:15] real struggles and real stories matter. Now, let's get into today's [00:00:20] conversation.
Your gut microbiome is one of the most powerful systems in your body [00:00:25] It influences your weight your hormones your energy even your mood And this [00:00:30] episode we'll look at the groundbreaking advances in gut research and what they mean for your health [00:00:35] today In 2014 I actually wrote this book the Belly Fix and talked [00:00:40] a lot about what it meant to have a healthy gut because a lot of my training was in Chinese [00:00:45] medicine Ayurvedic medicine along with of course traditional medicine and functional medicine and [00:00:50] all of these systems of medicine talked about the gut in some respect or the other
But the difference was [00:00:55] in Eastern medicine Most Eastern systems of medicine the gut is ground zero of your health And [00:01:00] it was true 5000 years ago and it's still true today And in 2014 we [00:01:05] were just starting to use the words microbiome gut health [00:01:10] and these things like keifer and kombucha and kitchery and all the things [00:01:15] that I was talking about back then were were very foreign honestly
People were just starting to wrap their [00:01:20] heads around this idea Well what happened with this book was that people that follow this plan [00:01:25] Did amazingly well They lost weight They talked about having incredible mental [00:01:30] clarity and so many other benefits And so it only reinforced this idea that the [00:01:35] gut is such a critical part of our health now
It's been almost a decade or so [00:01:40] later right? And there have been so many advances when it comes to the world [00:01:45] Of gut health the microbiome and what it means for so many other processes and systems of [00:01:50] the body In this next episode we are gonna break down the important elements of gut [00:01:55] health what a healthy microbiome really means for you and what the research is [00:02:00] saying when it comes to gut health
The microbiome And what it means for everything from [00:02:05] weight to depression to hormone health and so much more Alright let's get into it. I wanna [00:02:10] start with really talking about what Does a healthy gut look like? I feel like we're using the [00:02:15] word hashtag gut health and all these things over and over again but what do we mean?
What are [00:02:20] we talking about? There are a couple of critical elements to gut health and it's important for [00:02:25] all of us to be aware of them to start to have this conversation around a healthy gut [00:02:30] microbiome First let's define microbiome A microbiome is that sea that population of [00:02:35] bacteria swimming around in the gut all responsible
For different things [00:02:40] Think about a massive factory and everybody has a job One set of bacteria may [00:02:45] have a job for your metabolism another one for your hormones another one for your kidneys another one [00:02:50] for your blood sugar And I could go on And what we thought was just the gut microbiome we are [00:02:55] now understanding is not just limited to the gut
Your rectal [00:03:00] area your vagina your mouth your organs everything has a [00:03:05] microbiome But at the end of the day the gut is still ground zero for all the other [00:03:10] microbiomes in the body So for this conversation we're gonna talk about the gut microbiome [00:03:15] advances in the gut microbiome and what you really need to know
So we know the microbiome is a [00:03:20] critical element of health but the microbiome Which I'll keep referring to is [00:03:25] essential and dependent on a couple of other key gut functions The [00:03:30] first of which it really wants a healthy gut lining Now I've used this analogy [00:03:35] before but I wanna think about your gut starting at the mouth going all the way down [00:03:40] to the rectum and being one continuous massive organ
And in [00:03:45] Chinese medicine and older systems of medicine they actually threw the liver And the gallbladder into [00:03:50] this overall sort of analogy of gut health Right right? So all of it's the gut [00:03:55] and all of it has a microbiome but for it to function effectively you have to [00:04:00] have a healthy gut lining So it's this idea that the gut lining has to be [00:04:05] intact has to be nonpermeable and has to do what it's supposed to do in terms of [00:04:10] absorption volume amazing food
Then I know you guys are eating if that lining is [00:04:15] not intact and instead you have something that looks like someone like Punched holes through it right? I always talk [00:04:20] about maybe like a laundry bag or a trash bag where there's someone just punched a bunch of holes through [00:04:25] then you lose your nutrients and that in turn triggers something that we've talked about for a long period of [00:04:30] time called leaky gut which in turn sets the body up for inflammation
[00:04:35] Now conventional traditional medicine doesn't recognize leaky gut but we're splitting hairs [00:04:40] here guys because instead they want it to be called intestinal permeability [00:04:45] And each of us has a different level of intestinal permeability [00:04:50] Now if you're running a high stress life you're eating a lot of fast or ultra processed foods
If you're [00:04:55] on a lot of different medications or you're taking in things that are harming the gut [00:05:00] lining including alcohol or a lot of diet sodas or carbonated [00:05:05] beverages all of these can impact the integrity of that gut lining and lead to [00:05:10] leaky gut And leaky gut in turn triggers microbial [00:05:15] instability
So patients will come to me all the time and be like do I have sibo? Do I have [00:05:20] candida? You know what do I have? And the answer is we have to look at all of it because if we in [00:05:25] isolation treat SIBO or treat candida over here but don't [00:05:30] treat the entire gut holistically it's gonna come right back And we've seen that over and over [00:05:35] again
Sibo by the way is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth [00:05:40] is what we refer to as sibo And conventionally we treat SIBO with 14 days of [00:05:45] antibiotics called Xifaxan and it works But again if you don't heal the gut in its [00:05:50] totality then it will come right back and I've seen that in practice over and over again
So we need to [00:05:55] have not just a healthy gut microbiome but we have to have a healthy gut lining But [00:06:00] there's two other parts to this story as well You have to be able to digest the foods that you're [00:06:05] eating So having the right proportion of digestive enzymes and having enough [00:06:10] hydrochloric acid is important for a healthy gut and healthy gut microbiome as well[00:06:15]
One of the things that we see for people who are on a lot of medications or who've had a lot of procedures [00:06:20] or who are aging Right Their ability to produce digestive [00:06:25] enzymes and hydrochloric acid actually goes down So in [00:06:30] turn their ability to digest their foods even though their diets sometimes are like impeccable [00:06:35] is impaired
And that in turn triggers a shift in the microbiome So that's [00:06:40] another component of this healthy gut moving on from that what is the other critical piece of a healthy [00:06:45] gut? Well it's the ability to produce bile
That's right We [00:06:50] need the gallbladder The gallbladder produces bile emulsifies fats [00:06:55] helps to package them and sends them off to where they need to go go Without the right [00:07:00] production of bile what we see in turn is a lot of fat malabsorption [00:07:05] meaning you're spilling fat in your stool which in turn looks like issues with your hormones [00:07:10] and issues with your neurotransmitters including dopamine gaba and [00:07:15] serotonin which means you become hormonally depleted anxious depressed [00:07:20] all the things and it's all happening right here in the gut
So needless to [00:07:25] say understanding what is going on with the gut and how that influences the microbiome [00:07:30] is ground zero for health When I talk about any condition in the exam room [00:07:35] you find me winding my way back to the gut as a starting point And [00:07:40] oftentimes on those initial visits as we're trying to problem solve we often begin [00:07:45] with a gut protocol first
Now that you have a feeling for what the gut looks [00:07:50] like what's involved what the critical functions are let's dive deeper into [00:07:55] what's happened in the world of microbial research
I wanna talk about what's [00:08:00] happening both in the exam room and also what's happening in research A healthy [00:08:05] gut microbiome is so important for overall health and in the next few minutes we're [00:08:10] gonna connect how important a good gut microbiome is to many [00:08:15] other aspects of your health The research is Fascinating What we're seeing in the exam room [00:08:20] supports it It's still not yet quote unquote a standard of care but I'm so excited to share [00:08:25] some of this information with you
Now we've already reviewed what a healthy gut is right? You have to [00:08:30] have a good gut lining You have to have the right amount of enzymes You have to be able to produce [00:08:35] bile acid and of course you have to have the right bacteria All of this is sort of [00:08:40] dependent on the production of two Particular molecules
I could almost reduce [00:08:45] it down to having the right amount of butyrate Butyrate is produced from fat that helps to [00:08:50] balance all of this and having the right amount of something called beta glucuronidase [00:08:55] Beta glucuronidase is an enzyme that's responsible for taking things up that we [00:09:00] eat taking up our hormone metabolites our toxins recycling them and [00:09:05] moving them out of the body
But when beta glucuronidase is too high then it moves it [00:09:10] right back into the bloodstream So this balance of butyrate and beta glucuronidase [00:09:15] is kind of at the center of this tug and pull of what the gut microbiome is going to [00:09:20] do along with the other factors of gut health a healthy gut microbiome
[00:09:25] When butyrate is in the right place beta glucuronidase is in the right place is [00:09:30] composed of diverse bacteria In fact the more diversity The [00:09:35] better We want lots of different types of bacteria floating around in our body because [00:09:40] again remember they all have different functions So when we go and sample the gut [00:09:45] microbiome in practice right we have many different ways of doing that through stool test and breath test and [00:09:50] understanding what gut bacteria is doing
Here's what we like to see We [00:09:55] like to see a healthy population of lactobacillus bacteria bifidobacteria [00:10:00] ruminococcus bacteria from fiber bacillus bacteria that's been tied [00:10:05] to many different conditions and akkermansia which has been tied to blood sugar[00:10:10]
All these different strains of bacteria have different jobs but when they're in the right amount [00:10:15] they work to prevent things like inflammation Hormone imbalances mental [00:10:20] health disorders and so much more But when they're out of balance that's where we [00:10:25] start seeing expression of different diseases
I'm gonna break down for you [00:10:30] some of the connections that we have seen both in research And in the exam room [00:10:35] between gut bacteria and health let's go for it Let's start with the first one The [00:10:40] first one is the gut brain access right? So in this particular article it's talking [00:10:45] about how we understand that certain gut bacteria are responsible for [00:10:50] production of the neurotransmitters dopamine gaba serotonin and [00:10:55] even norepinephrine and epinephrine
Studies show that almost 90 to [00:11:00] 95% of your neurotransmitters are packaged and made in the gut So we [00:11:05] know that there's a huge connection between the gut and the brain and we've seen this over and over again in [00:11:10] practice This particular study from 2022 It says this the gut microbiome exerts a [00:11:15] considerable influence on human neurophysiology and mental health interactions between the [00:11:20] intestinal microbiology and the host system and it's played a [00:11:25] role in the development of psychiatric conditions and how effective [00:11:30] medication And therapy may actually be when we are treating a mental health [00:11:35] disorder like anxiety or depression you know or bipolar any of these things we're [00:11:40] not thinking about the shifts in gut health and the shifts in the microbiome
So if I [00:11:45] had my way when we did a holistic approach right to a mental health disorder we would [00:11:50] work on the microbial shifts the integrity of the gut While we also thought [00:11:55] about medication hormone balance and then uh other modalities like cognitive [00:12:00] behavioral therapy or therapy So again you know we kind of do a [00:12:05] disservice when we take just Hey just do this one thing and you're gonna be better
Now the gut has also [00:12:10] been implicated in inflammation In fact I often find myself saying the root of [00:12:15] inflammation is in the gut Here's an article again talking about this one's from 2023 [00:12:20] Talking about something that's fascinating It's called the Exposome Have you guys heard of that [00:12:25] before? The Exposome is actually the cumulative load of all the toxins [00:12:30] you've been exposed to and how that influences the microbiome
So here we're [00:12:35] talking about now the exosome which is the sum of human environmental exposures [00:12:40] including diet Drugs and toxins [00:12:45] impacting tissue homeostasis including what the intestines are gonna do and how [00:12:50] the gut lining will or will not stay intact Basically we're understanding that [00:12:55] the disruption of that gut lining from whatever your exposome looks [00:13:00] like is going to influence inflammation and inflammation at the end of the day [00:13:05] is the thing that is developing and driving
Tumors and [00:13:10] cancer in the body Again this article is from 2023 and really linking together [00:13:15] that cumulative load or the exposome with the microbiome with [00:13:20] inflammation and then how it might be linked to cancer Such an important connection and [00:13:25] one one reason especially as we see cancer rates go higher and higher that we really need to [00:13:30] be paying attention to gut health when it comes to inflammation
'cause inflammation [00:13:35] is the number one trigger for most chronic disease today All right There's the gut [00:13:40] inflammation connection Let's do one more The gut hormone connection All right Now this is a big one In [00:13:45] fact I had a diagram here I'm gonna show it to you You probably can't see it but we'll put it up there
This is the gut [00:13:50] hormone connection Essentially what's what they're showing here is that within the gut [00:13:55] have the microbiome It's responsible for having healthy bacteria Those [00:14:00] bacteria between butyrate and beta glucuronidase are responsible for taking up things [00:14:05] like estrogen and testosterone And what's actually happening in [00:14:10] perimenopause and menopause and many other hormone conditions even andropause in [00:14:15] men is that as the hormones decline the ability of this gut bacteria to stay [00:14:20] balanced goes down
And as that goes down What we then see is there's a lot more [00:14:25] recycling of hormones and dumping them back into the bloodstream or not excreting them the way [00:14:30] they need to be resulting in estrogen dominance androgen [00:14:35] dominance with declining levels of testosterone and estrogen So again we can [00:14:40] see how the gut is involved in this really important conversation and as women go into perimenopause [00:14:45] and menopause and men
Go into andropause The reason many of them are [00:14:50] having issues from mood to weight and so much more is because the gut is [00:14:55] not doing the job it was doing 'cause the hormone influence has changed over time So [00:15:00] again the interconnectedness of all this stuff is absolutely mind [00:15:05] blowing
So we've talked about the gut hormone connection We've talked about the gut inflammation [00:15:10] connection We've talked about the gut brain connection and what it means to have a healthy [00:15:15] gut and how to keep these different strains of bacteria Balanced Let's move [00:15:20] on and talk about a few other patterns that we really need to understand
When it comes to [00:15:25] gut health and a healthy microbiome one of the most exciting areas that we are [00:15:30] starting to understand when it comes to healthy microbiome and advances in the microbiome [00:15:35] is the connection to weight and metabolic health
One of the most exciting things when I wrote [00:15:40] the Belly Fix in 2014 was that when people did the plan they lost So much weight and [00:15:45] they didn't expect it and they had tried every other diet plan in the world Well as the [00:15:50] years have passed the connection between a healthy microbiome and your weight [00:15:55] continues to be very clear and in fact there's some exciting work being done
Really tying [00:16:00] if you could balance the microbiome in a particular way Could you finally lose that belly [00:16:05] fat and lose weight? Effectively the research continues to evolve but what we see in practice [00:16:10] are a number of patterns tying back to gut health and insulin regulation [00:16:15] and blood sugar balance Now the most known well-known pattern is a lack of a [00:16:20] bacteria called akkermansia
Akkermansia has been shown in research [00:16:25] and even in practice to really help with uptake of blood sugar Bringing insulin levels back [00:16:30] down and indirectly helping with the situation around weight Gut bacteria [00:16:35] are responsible for our metabolic rate and oftentimes I have patients that have done everything right
[00:16:40] They are you know doing the diet they're doing the exercise They are trying to figure [00:16:45] out why they simply cannot Lose weight Well when it comes to weight and weight loss I remind [00:16:50] everybody that the gut is a primary metabolic engine And if it's not working [00:16:55] well it is very difficult to lose weight
You often know that your gut's not working well with [00:17:00] obvious gut symptoms right? Reflux bloating trouble going to the bathroom But another way [00:17:05] to know that the gut's not doing well are symptoms that are more silent or more subtle [00:17:10] whether it's rashes or brain fog or simply feeling ill after eating or crashing [00:17:15] after eating
The connection between blood sugar and the microbiome is so strong [00:17:20] and it is so regulated by the food we consume but also by our stress levels and our [00:17:25] sleep and article after article keeps bringing this connection back into the [00:17:30] forefront So Akkermansia is one bacteria that we could take to help rebalance [00:17:35] this pattern but it's not enough to just do one particular bacteria
[00:17:40] There are a couple of other bacteria involved and they tie back to our diet For example ruminococcus [00:17:45] is a bacteria that's produced when we eat enough fiber If we're not eating enough fiber then [00:17:50] we see the population of Ruminococcus Ruminococcus get out of control and not be able to do the things it [00:17:55] needs to do
So fiber becomes very important When we're thinking about weight [00:18:00] loss and blood sugar regulation the other bacteria really involved in this weight equation [00:18:05] when we think about the microbiome is candida or an overgrowth of yeast in the gut Many [00:18:10] times when there's a lack of microbial diversity And what I mean by that is that we're either [00:18:15] not eating a variety of foods to give us different bacteria or we're not eating high [00:18:20] quality foods or there's been a shift downward for different
Reasons And one of [00:18:25] the reasons we know that we lack diversity sometimes is in a hormone condition like [00:18:30] andropause perimenopause or menopause where there's simply not as many good gut [00:18:35] bacteria as there were at one time and that in turn is a [00:18:40] primary driver For the weight gain that you see with hormone shifts
So for example [00:18:45] when hormones shift in these life stages or even with something like PCOS for example [00:18:50] then we know that there is a change in what's happening in gut bacteria And [00:18:55] what many researchers are trying to do is isolate If we gave you a particular [00:19:00] probiotic in your state in your hormone state would that shift you back to where [00:19:05] you used to be?
Or would giving you the right hormone shift you back to where you used to be? [00:19:10] But for people that are gaining weight and that are frustrated and not understanding the why [00:19:15] behind it a big part of the why is simply that they do not have the bacteria [00:19:20] that they once had and they have to work actively on repopulating it
[00:19:25] So there's definitely a connection between the two When I look at the studies and just review it they talk a lot about this [00:19:30] connection between the microbiome and metabolic syndrome and they're saying the interplay [00:19:35] of the microbiome with the host and your metabolic rate and includes many [00:19:40] factors including how effective your gut barrier is
How much bile [00:19:45] acid remember we talked about that you're secreting if you've been on excessive [00:19:50] antibiotics because that in turn makes candida worse and then what's happening with the different [00:19:55] metabolites that you're produ producing in addition to that diet and [00:20:00] circadian rhythm are influencing your gut health and your microbiome as well
[00:20:05] That's a more evolving area of research that I think is super fascinating that the circadian [00:20:10] rhythm meaning your sleep wake cycle right Determined so much Not just your [00:20:15] hormone rhythm because there's such a player there when it comes to your hormones Your circadian rhythm [00:20:20] is actually directly influencing your microbiome So if your [00:20:25] circadian rhythm is off maybe you travel a lot maybe you are in different time [00:20:30] zones maybe you're in night owl or you have erratic sleep schedules because of shift [00:20:35] work or so many different reasons or young children even
Part of the reason you're [00:20:40] having trouble with weight is because that gut bacteria is not stable It is [00:20:45] also shifting and actually becoming less and less diversified because [00:20:50] of the disruption in circadian rhythm All right Let's look at this article from also from [00:20:55] 2022 talking about what they are seeing when they look at circadian rhythms and the gut [00:21:00] microbiome
And what they're saying They're showing an increase in body weight when [00:21:05] is a decrease in what they're saying a regular consistent night schedule [00:21:10] It's saying the alterations in the expressions of these clock genes that's what they're causing It [00:21:15] is relevant for metabolic functioning and what they found was a bidirectional [00:21:20] relationship between the microbiome and your clock right?
So if you [00:21:25] are on a consistent sleep schedule Going to bed at the same time waking up at the same [00:21:30] time you'll have microbial regularity If you're somebody that's not sleeping [00:21:35] consistently because of travel or because of the other things that we've mentioned then you're going to have [00:21:40] issues with your microbiome
And that microbial disruption and turn [00:21:45] leads to weight gain And that's the connection that's really important to understand because I think one of the [00:21:50] things we're not doing in practice and that we need to start thinking about is
Kind of [00:21:55] profiling each of our patients right? Do I have a traveler?
Do I have a stressed mom? [00:22:00] Do I have somebody doing shift work? Do I have a night owl? And then helping each of you [00:22:05] move your sleep schedules to one that's realistic but then also [00:22:10] supporting that schedule so that you can maintain things like microbial regularity
And [00:22:15] hormone regularity as well and I think that's that's a really important piece of the puzzle There's been a lot [00:22:20] of discussion especially with the advent of GLP ones on the gut microbiome [00:22:25] the gut in general and insulin and metabolic rate and GLP ones [00:22:30] do help people lose weight The concern we have with long-term use of GLP [00:22:35] one medications in the context of a healthy gut microbiome is that we don't want to [00:22:40] disrupt the gut
And that is the biggest flaw of those medications that when they are [00:22:45] given at doses for a long period of time or you assume that you have to be on this [00:22:50] forever How are we impacting the gut microbiome over the long term [00:22:55] and making sure it's not moving in a direction For decreased diversification [00:23:00] decreased butyrate production and abnormal levels of something called beta [00:23:05] glucuronidase that drive the body towards a pro-inflammatory state a [00:23:10] hormone disrupted state and a state where metabolic syndrome is a [00:23:15] reality
This is what we need to be thinking about when we think about overall health and a holistic approach to [00:23:20] health We have to be thinking about how do we maintain a diverse Healthy [00:23:25] microbiome and that's what we're gonna do next Over the next few All right From gut brain to [00:23:30] gut hormone to gut inflammation to gut weight Four critical [00:23:35] ways that your microbiome is impacting your overall health We've talked about the [00:23:40] connections We've talked about the strains of bacteria involved and we've talked about the importance of a healthy gut [00:23:45] lining production of digestive enzymes
Bile acids and [00:23:50] even the bacteria that are acting together in concert and in balance [00:23:55] What we wanna do next is build a plan that works right? Build something that's realistic We can [00:24:00] get into the research and you can get into all the strains and sometimes it's so interesting from an [00:24:05] informational standpoint but it's not really practical from a day-to-day standpoint
It's part of why I [00:24:10] love merging the research With clinical practice because in practice we get to work with people [00:24:15] day in and day out at Whole Plus and get to see what works what doesn't work what is maybe too [00:24:20] academic and what really might be a solution for the future So here's what we have seen [00:24:25] work consistently over and over again maintaining a healthy [00:24:30] microbiome
One that is consistently stable and can withstand environmental [00:24:35] pressures hormone shifts and changes Life stressors no matter what they may be in [00:24:40] different stages of life is one that pays attention to those four critical components [00:24:45] The gut microbiome the gut lining digestive enzymes bile acid [00:24:50] production butyrate and beta glucuronidase right?
We wanna pay attention to all of that I always put [00:24:55] beta glucuronidase and butyrate is sort of subcategories of the four main ideas And the way [00:25:00] to go about doing that we have to talk about diet right? Because you can't I always say you can't out [00:25:05] supplement an unhealthy diet So we wanna start with diet and make sure you're doing [00:25:10] a couple of key things for a healthy gut when it comes to your diet
Number one is you're [00:25:15] removing processed and ultra processed foods right? Fast foods packaged foods [00:25:20] anything in a bag And the reason for that is the chemical load and toxin load in those foods [00:25:25] and sometimes the saturated fat load in those foods are affecting our four key [00:25:30] determinants of gut health and impacting butyrate and beta glucuronidase
So cleaning up the [00:25:35] diet starting small than big right? I always say start with lowering alcohol first [00:25:40] Lowering your consumption of sugar Trying to get that down to maybe one or two days a week [00:25:45] under four drinks of alcohol a week That's a great starting point If you don't know where to start then kind of [00:25:50] graduating out of that and moving to okay I'm gonna reduce other inflammatory foods [00:25:55] diminishing dairy diminishing gluten and then keeping animal protein down to [00:26:00] about four to six ounces a day is ideal
When we're talking about the gut microbiome [00:26:05] the next piece of this is preserving that gut lining by taking in something like [00:26:10] collagen right? You can do Collar glow There are so many different collagen products on the market but doing [00:26:15] a scoop of that a day can help preserve that gut lining as can one of my all time [00:26:20] favorites glutamine
And I usually recommend doing about two to three grams a day In addition to [00:26:25] that taking digestive enzymes and this is one I can't stress you know Over and over [00:26:30] again I find myself talking about this because remember digestive enzymes are going to prevent [00:26:35] that concept of fat malabsorption
So as your hormones change and your gut just kind of gets [00:26:40] sloppy and sluggish those enzymes are improving the efficiency of your digestion [00:26:45] and there's some enzymes that actually have oxil in them that actually also help With [00:26:50] sort of the gallbladder production and then helping to produce the bile that's needed [00:26:55] to package up and move your food in the right direction
So digestive enzymes become [00:27:00] critical hydrochloric acid becomes critical And then I start with a broad sort [00:27:05] of broad strained at least a hundred colony count probiotic that [00:27:10] can help to provide some diversification To gut We need a range of bacteria [00:27:15] in the gut to begin with until we can identify if there's one particular bacteria [00:27:20] that you're having trouble with
And when we take this initial approach we are [00:27:25] usually able to get the microbiome back in balance and subdue things like [00:27:30] candida or ruminococcus or streptococcus overgrowth that we see in [00:27:35] menopause We're able to bring those things down But if we're not Then we start to look for [00:27:40] strains of bacteria and this is where the research is headed where we can actually treat
So for [00:27:45] example we would take a stamp a sample of your stool We would evaluate it [00:27:50] and then we would be able to formulate and develop a probiotic or a [00:27:55] prebiotic or even a symbiotic that works with the deficiency to re [00:28:00] diversify and repopulate your gut bacteria Now repopulating the gut [00:28:05] bacteria can be done with taking probiotics
Probiotics do need to be high quality [00:28:10] They need to be vetted to make sure they are what they say they are because as they sit on a shelf they do [00:28:15] degrade over time That's why some people actually even prefer prebiotics which is the food that a [00:28:20] probiotic will feed on To have diversification but there are a lot of fun hacks [00:28:25] that you can bring in that actually help you to diversify your gut bacteria
[00:28:30] And this is bringing in those fermented foods right? Bringing in the yogurts the [00:28:35] keifers you know the kombuchas you know I Have fun making kombucha at one point [00:28:40] But those are things that do help to diversify that gut bacteria and make the [00:28:45] gut much more efficient so it can do what it needs to do with hormones inflammation weight your mood and [00:28:50] so much more
That's one way of adding diversification The other way is one that [00:28:55] I have to be honest even I have trouble with is switching up your foods Like changing up what you're [00:29:00] eating like not having the exact same breakfast every day and the exact same lunch every day [00:29:05] Kind of switching it up a little bit so that you're getting different bacteria from every different food [00:29:10] you're eating you know?
So that's another way of promoting diversification in the gut [00:29:15] And finally looking at your sleep Your stress and your hormones is a way [00:29:20] to get your gut bacteria back in line Remember this stuff is bi-directional One thing over [00:29:25] here is influencing another thing over here but when we're not sleeping as we've seen in the [00:29:30] studies with circadian rhythm or if we're excessively stress high cortisol will slow down gut [00:29:35] motility and change what the gut bacteria are actually doing
Then in turn we're [00:29:40] impacting the central idea Of gut diversification and those four critical [00:29:45] elements of the gut So that's another place where we can jump in This is why [00:29:50] acupuncture has been a game changer for the microbiome or something like consistent massage might [00:29:55] change the microbiome or getting off of night shifts can change your health completely [00:30:00] because it shifts the microbiome
We've even seen this with hormone replacement therapy so going [00:30:05] on a little bit of estrogen but making sure it's not getting recycled to cause estrogen [00:30:10] dominance Can help the gut bacteria So all of this stuff is interconnected [00:30:15] intertwined and you can be be actionable when it comes to [00:30:20] repopulating and diversifying your gut bacteria
And when it comes to the research there's so [00:30:25] many incredible advances In the microbiome and what the microbiome can and cannot do [00:30:30] But at the end of the day while research fights it out and tries to find the perfect strain for [00:30:35] the perfect condition I think it's our responsibility in what we do at Whole Plus to put the whole [00:30:40] picture together and understand that your gut is a massive system with a lot of different [00:30:45] parts and players and when they work together in harmony and in symphony [00:30:50] that's when you achieve your best health
I hope this episode gave you something valuable [00:30:55] to think about or to even try this week. If it did, please leave a short review on your [00:31:00] podcast app.
It really helps us grow the whole plus community and reach more people [00:31:05] who need to hear this message. You can also connect with me directly on Instagram at Dr. [00:31:10] TAs md. Send me a DM and tell me what you'd love to hear about next.