What does gut health have to do with hay fever or seasonal allergies? Probably a good deal more than you might think. Allergies and hay fever are an inappropriate defensive response to pollen and other substances. According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, “Besides being associated with inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, or celiac disease, leaky gut can also be a contributing factor to allergies.” It’s true that pollens can be extremely irritating. When you look at them under a microscope, some look like medieval torture devices. Your body wants to rid itself of irritants ..read more

GMOs (genetically modified organisms) have genes from another species transplanted into their DNA. This is done to increase production or yield or add some other previously nonexistent quality to the organism. These experimental organisms have so far been mostly plants, but animals are also being modified. This is not the same as hybridizing. Hybrids are created through breeding. Genetic modification is actual transferral of DNA material from one species into another in order to achieve some desired characteristic. To be able to insert the foreign DNA into the recipient plant or animal DNA, e ..read more

One of the toughest parts about eating healthy is avoiding restaurant traps. Eating out is necessary for people who travel often or have an active social life that requires meeting for meals. And while eating at a restaurant can require careful planning, there are ways to do it without falling prey to the problems of restaurant eating. The most obvious restaurant trap is portion sizes. If you compare today’s portion sizes to those from fifty years ago you’ll see that today restaurants serve almost twice as much on the plate. If you’re someone who usually cleans your plate, this is a set up fo ..read more

For years, we’ve been taught that eating whole grain foods – from bread to pasta – is what’s best for building good health. And whole grain truly is better than the refined version of foods: more vitamins are retained, a lot more of the beneficial fiber is available. And many would say there is more flavor, as well. But recently, it seems as though wheat has gone totally out of style. Everywhere you look, you see gluten free this or that. And not just the gluten free aisle at the grocery store… Many restaurants now feature a no gluten section in their menus. Gluten free birthday parties for t ..read more

Your body is designed to digest the food you eat; it creates hydrochloric acid along with various enzymes for just that purpose. So why might you consider taking them as a supplement? Well if you seem to get gas no matter you eat, or you often suffer from heartburn or indigestion, or if constipation is an issue for you, it probably means that there is something not quite right with your enzyme production. In order to be able to absorb nutrients, your food has to be broken down microscopic particles. Anything that’s not totally broken down starts composting somewhere in your intestinal tract ..read more

By the age of seven, practically all children will have suffered an ear infection. It’s the second most common childhood illness, colds are number one. Definitely a painful experience, and risky, too, if it isn’t taken care of. This usually means a visit to the family doctor and a prescription for amoxicillin. Problem solved? Not necessarily. You see, ear infections tend to start with an upper respiratory infection. So your child may have had one round of antibiotics already. Now there is pain added to the equation, which gets everyone’s attention, and an additional antibiotic may be prescrib ..read more

If you are treating your leaky gut by following the 4 R’s and you’re not seeing much progress, it could be that you’re dealing with SIBO – small intestine bacterial overgrowth. SIBO (pronounced SEE-bo) is one of the causes of leaky gut, but the two vary a bit when it comes to treatment. The most common symptoms of SIBO are abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating/distention, diarrhea and/or constipation, and extreme burping and passing gas. It tends to be under-diagnosed since it shares so many symptoms with other gastrointestinal disorders. A Bit Of Background The small intestine is a big part ..read more

If you’ve done much research on gut health, you already know that antibiotics, even when prescribed and used correctly, can really do a number on your digestive health. While they’re killing off the pathogens they were meant to eliminate, antibiotics also rid your body of helpful bacteria and other friendly microbes. This microbial community that lives inside us, our microbiome, is incredibly important to our health as humans. It helps or even actually does the work of dozens of body processes. Ideally, we start life with a healthy, balanced microbiome. It evolves with us over time and helps ..read more