GUT HEALTH 101

DrRuscio.com
In Today’s World Imbalances
in the Intestinal Microbiota
are the Norm.
Why?
• Overuse of antibiotics
• Lack of, or short-term duration, of
breastfeeding
• Cesarean (C-section) birth
• Reduced contact with animals, dirt
and environmental bacteria
• Overuse of antibacterial soaps
• Unhealthy diets low in fiber and
high in processed foods and added
How Does Poor Gut Health
•
sugar
Sedentary lifestyle and poor sleep
Cause So Many Problems?
habits (yes, these affect your Many conditions are caused by
intestinal bacteria) inflammation. Modern-day inflammatory
conditions include:

This Creates a Perfect Storm, Fatigue:

Setting the Stage for Poor • Inflammation can cause fatigue by
creating imbalances in stress
Gut Health. hormones; sometimes this is
called adrenal fatigue (even
This balance of bacteria in your gut (aka though this term isn’t literally true,
microbiota) can impact not only digestive many may identify with it)
symptoms but a wide array of seemingly
unrelated symptoms and conditions Depression or Anxiety:
including:
• When the inflammation from the
● mood & energy gut gets into the brain, it can alter
● skin & joints your neurotransmitters or “happy
● metabolism & sleep mood” chemicals
● immune function
● hormone balance & thyroid Brain Fog:
health
• When the inflammation from the
gut gets into the brain, it can cause
brain fog (cloudy thinking)
Insomnia:
• Inflammation in the digestive tract
has been documented to cause
insomnia
Acne or Other Skin Conditions:
• It is often said that the skin is a
reflection of the gut: A healthy gut
equals healthy skin
Female Hormone Imbalances:
• Inflammation can, directly and
indirectly, alter the balance of
female hormones and cause PMS
(fatigue, irritability, bloating),
altered cycle length or flow, low
libido, and hot flashes)
Male Hormone Imbalances:
• Inflammation can cause male
hormone imbalances, causing
fatigue, low libido, erectile
dysfunction, muscle loss, and poor
memory
Hypothyroid Symptoms:
• Inflammation damages your
body’s ability to use thyroid
hormone, so if your thyroid labs
are normal or you are on thyroid
medication but still exhibiting
hypothyroid symptoms,
inflammation is likely the cause
Immune System Dysregulation
and Autoimmunity:
• Bacterial overgrowths or
inflammation in the small intestine
are connected with problems in
the immune system, including
conditions such as Hashimoto’s
disease (autoimmune thyroid),
celiac disease, irritable bowel
syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis,
food reactivity and inflammatory
bowel disease (Crohn’s and
ulcerative colitis).
Unhealthy Gut Bacteria =
Inflammation
Inflammation = Symptoms
The Science Is In, Gut
Therapies Can Improve Your
Health
Thankfully, clinical trials have shown that
people who are not feeling well can
improve their health by modulating their
gut bacteria. This is good news.
However, marketers are also quick to
make hyperbolic health claims that will
lead you to waste your money.
Fortunately, when we take a principled
and science-based approach, we can
simplify the gut-health landscape.
Foundation Therapies to
Repair Your Gut
Simple therapies are available, with
scientific documentation showing they
can improve your gut health. By
improving gut health you are addressing
the cause of an array of symptoms and
conditions, as listed above.
Understanding how to use these tools
correctly leads to improved health.
Incorrect use of these tools leads to a
merry-go-round of jumping from one diet
or supplement to the next.
For example, readers of Healthy Gut,
Healthy You have improved their health
even after numerous doctors (including
natural and functional doctors) have
failed them. Why? Because it provides
guidelines for the correct use of the
available tools for improving your gut
health.
Where Do You Start
1. Diet and lifestyle
2. Probiotics
3. More advanced therapies:
Antimicrobials, herbs, gut
reparative cocktails,
immunoglobulins and more.
First, we must determine the
ideal diet for YOUR gut.
It is shocking how dietary dogma prevents
people from discovering the diet that is
best for them. Within 4-6 weeks we can
determine the right diet for your gut.
We must determine the
correct probiotic protocol for
YOUR gut.
If diet does not fully improve your health,
we must personalize a probiotic protocol
to YOUR gut.
Yes, many people have tried probiotics
and seen only minimal improvement.
This is because:
1. Most probiotic advice is derived
from marketers, and
2. Many clinicians have not done the
hard work of digging through the
research to understand how to
correctly use probiotics.
For example, many doctors are ignoring
the potential of probiotics even though a
recent American College of
Gastroenterology review concluded
probiotics to be one of the more effective
therapies for irritable bowel syndrome.
The same people who have tried
probiotics with lackluster results often
report seeing results they have never
before seen once they begin correctly
applying probiotics.
There is more that can be done for gut
health, but we must get these
foundational pieces in place first. The
majority of people will regain their health
once we do. Don’t be fooled by fancy
testing or exotic treatments…. Day after
day I see these failed patients in my
clinical practice. Patients come in after
spending tons of money on testing and
using every snake-oil therapy available
only to improve their health after
correctly applying simple but effective
therapies.
Take the first step and find the right diet
for your gut.