How To Balance Your Gut Health
If you experience any of these various symptoms, its best to get checked out by a doctor to determine if your symptoms are due to an unhealthy gut or other factors. From there, you may also want to visit a naturopathic doctor who specializes in gut health.
A naturopath may opt to put you on a specialized diet or perform tests to see if you have food triggers and sensitivities that might be causing an imbalance in your gut. “The very first step in healing the gut is to identify and remove the offending foods. If you stop eating the food that is affecting the lining of the intestines, this can give your gastrointestinal tract a break and give it a chance to heal,” says Parrish.
A naturopath can also help identify if you have bacterial overgrowth, yeast, or parasites that are affecting your gut health.
From there, a naturopath will likely recommend tailored foods and supplements that can help repair your gut, including probiotics, prebiotics, enzymes, glutamine, fish oil, and more.
Addressing your lifestyle habits can also help. “Balancing other aspects of health can restore your gut to optimal functioning, says Parrish. its amazing how much stress plays a role in digestion, as well as sleep.
Can I Stop My Tiredness
The neurologic symptoms, and it isimportant to understand whether or not probiotics create a chemical or neurologicalteration that may be responsible for making you tired because this may havemore significant implications in susceptible patients. Thus, there is anongoing debate in the scientific community about whether or not probiotics arethe real cause of these symptoms.
D-Lactate is a candidate to understand theassociation between probiotics and brain fogginess. This variant of lactic acidis metabolized very slowly in the human body and tends to accumulate, but notevery probiotic strain creates D-Lactate, and theevidence presented so far is not enough to incriminate probiotics as a whole ora given strain of probiotics as a cause of fatigue and brain fog resulting fromD-Lactate acidosis.
Why Is The Gut Called The Second Brain
Growing up, you were probably taught that the brain is the master command center of the body. While thats partly true, you have another command center thats equally important, and its in your gut. Microbes have genetic elements that regulate all sorts of functions, including hormone production, metabolic activity, appetite, mood, andsleep.
In some ways, you could say that the brain and gut are close friends because they work as intricate partners to run this complex system day in and day out. One of the ways they do this is by communicating back and forth through something called the gut-brain axis. The gut and the brain are directly connected through the vagus nerve which runs from your brainstem to your intestines.
The vagus nerve connects to the enteric nervous system, which encompasses all the nerves in your digestive tract. This system is the second most dense area of neuronal activity next to the brain. Thats why theres a lot more truth to the phrase gut feeling than you may think.
All of the microbes in the gut have access to that enteric nervous system via the vagus nerve. This nerve also gives them direct access to the brain and vice versathe brain can influence the gut microbes too. All day long, they talk to each other and relay messages back and forth.
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Could The Simple Act Of Taking A Probiotic Supplement Be Enough To Improve Your Energy Levels
Probiotic use in the developed world has exploded in recent years. This is likely due to the growing body of new research that connects the health of your gut to the health of just about every other system in your body. In fact, gut health may be the foundation to well-being.
But what about in the context of chronic fatigue syndrome or low energy levels? Can the health of your gut influence your daily energy?
Ive written at length about the strong correlation between the health of your gut and chronic fatigue syndrome. For those short on time, the key take away is that dysbiosis in your digestive tract could be connected to chronic fatigue syndrome. And those with CFS tended to have higher levels of bad bacteria and lower levels of good bacteria.
With that in mind, its a pretty reasonable hypothesis to think that simply adding a probiotic supplement may help improve your fatigue.
But what does the research say? Can probiotics improve the symptoms of CFS?
Fatigue While Taking Probiotics
Your gut is filled with both friendly and unfriendly bacteria. Probiotics are supplements that help to increase the balance of friendly bacteria in your gut. Adding probiotics to your diet can improve immune health, help you synthesize vitamins and alleviate diarrhea. Probiotics can also help you to improve symptoms of some people suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, but may not offer any help with fatigue, and may make some with the disorder feel worse.
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Safety Considerations Using Probiotics
Probiotics are excellent therapeutic toolswith an impressive potential to improve many different conditions. They arewidely used in the medical field to improve cases of chronic diarrhea, and theyhave been found useful as a side treatment for other gastrointestinal ailmentsas well as autoimmune problems, and much more.
However, the responsible use of probioticsshould also consider the side effects of this revolutionary method. Thus,patients may experience the following symptoms after using probiotics:
- Bloating and abdominalcramps: The intestinal bacteria included in probioticswill grow in your intestinal lumen and start creating gas. Thus, you may feelbloating and sporadic abdominal cramps.
- Nausea and tastedisturbances: Some patients have reported nausea,but it is quite uncommon. However, taste disturbances are apparently morecommon, and they are possibly due to a modulation of the nervous system in thegastrointestinal tract.
- Low appetite: Similarly, you may find a reduction in your appetite levels causedby chemical modifications in the gastrointestinal tract that may be used in ouradvantage to favor weight loss.
There are also sporadic cases ofbacteremia, sepsis, and other health problems presumably caused by probioticsuse in immunocompromised and terminal patients. For this reason, if you arehospitalized or have a serious disease it is a good idea to talk to your doctorbefore starting probiotics.
How Sleep Influences The Microbiome
You may be familiar with the circadian rhythms role in regulating your sleep-wake cycles. Many other functions in your body run on an internal clock too, including the microbiome. The microbiomes circadian rhythm is affected by what you eat, when you eat, and how you sleep.
According to research, even just mild sleep deprivation can have a negative impact on gut health. A 2016 study looked at healthy young adults who had regular sleeping and eating patterns and looked at what happened to their microbiome after two nights of only 4.24 hours of sleep. The staggering results showed:
- A decrease in insulin sensitivity
- A decrease in healthy types of bacteria in the gut
- Microbiome changes that are linked to type 2 diabetes
Growing evidence shows that sleep disorders, like circadian rhythm disorders, insomnia, and others, can upset the balance of healthy bacteria in the gut, and this damage is linked to a range of health problems, including metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes, and inflammatory disease.
Lately, a lot of attention has been focused on the role of sleep in the development of Alzheimers disease later in life. Some new research suggests that the bacteria in the microbiome may be behind these cognitive changes. A 2017 study of healthy older adults found that better sleep quality was linked to better cognitive functioning and a healthier microbiome.
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You’ll Have An Easier Time Maintaining A Healthy Weight
If you’re trying to slim down, taking probiotics isn’t a bad idea. While experts agree these supplements are certainly not a “magic bullet” for weight loss, they can aid in your efforts.
“Certain probiotic strains help boost muscle mass and strength, while also supporting healthy weight management and exercise recovery through several different mechanisms,” explains Dr. Axe. “Probiotics seem to support a healthy body weight and body composition in several ways, including by improving insulin sensitivity, decreasing autoimmune response found in people with diabetes, helping to regulate one’s appetite, supporting absorption of nutrients that help fuel muscles and organs, and supporting liver and kidney health which are needed for detoxification, and regulating fat storage.”
According to Dr. Axe, certain probiotics can actually inhibit the absorption of dietary fat and increase the amount of fat excreted in bowel movements.
There’s an ever-increasing amount of research to support this. For example, a 2013 study found that when women who were dieting took a probiotic supplement, they shed more pounds than women who took a placebo pilland continued to lose more weight after they finished their diet. Another 2013 study found that when people drank fermented milk products with Lactobacillus gasseri bacteria, they lost 8.2 8.5% of their belly fat over the course of 12 weeks.
Don’t forget to skim through the 18 Best Probiotic Products For Gut Health.
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How Long Does It Take Probiotics To Work
It takes probiotics 30-60 minutes to work. If youre using a high quality, potentprobiotic supplement with billions of microorganisms and a high colony forming unit , which is proven to survive the harsh acidic conditions of the stomach. In fact, its possible to feel the therapeutic effects as soon as an hour after taking them. The two most common strains of probiotic bacteria, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, both have very short generation times, which means that they can start working almost immediately.However, it can take 4-8 weeks of regular doses for you to get the maximum benefitfrom your probiotic.
Why Does Ibs Cause Fatigue
The digestive system, more specifically the small intestine wall, is a major site for absorption of food and nutrients into the body. If this isnt working properly, consequences result.
For example, if not enough essential vitamins and minerals are absorbed our energy levels will decrease. This is especially so if diarrhoea is present and food does not stay in your gut for any length of time.
In addition to this, our bowel contains billions of good bacteria. These produce a number of nutrients, including the B group of vitamins essential for converting our food into energy. If this process is disrupted our energy levels may suffer.
Another possibility may be that bad bacteria or pathogens appear unwanted and are absorbed through the gut wall, which can put the immune system under huge pressure, resulting in fatigue. Chronic fatigue syndrome has been known to appear in people after they have suffered from a bacterial or viral infection.
Sleep disturbances are also linked with IBS and sleeping badly can have an impact on energy levels during the day.
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Why Probiotics Can Make You Feel Worse
The harmony that exists within our GI tract is down to the number and variety of microorganisms that colonise it a.k.a. our microbiome. Given that these bacteria, yeast and other species total in the trillions, with countless different strains represented, its an extremely complex interplay that exists within us.
Our gut bacteria have now been shown to play a crucial role in almost every process of the body. This is why introducing different species into the mix can temporarily have an impact on the environment and the symptoms we experience. This is particularly true of IBS-type symptoms like bloating, gas, abdominal pain and loose stools , which are the most common side effects of probiotics we see in our clinical practice.
There is a balance that exists within the GI tract and when we use supplement forms of probiotics or fermented foods we are temporarily changing that balance. This is not to say that the previous balance wasnt doing us harm, its just that a level of equilibrium existed and that we have now potentially thrown it into chaos. It isnt until a new, hopefully more beneficial, balance establishes itself that symptoms will stop.
How Probiotics Help Chronic Fatigue
Leaky Gut and probiotics
Intestinal permeability is the medical term for the condition you know as leaky gut. To determine whether your gut is leaking, a blood test will measure something called lipopolysaccharides . Lipopolysaccharides are large molecules that consist of a lipid and a polysaccharide they are found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria. If LPS are found in your blood, your gut is leaking the lipopolysaccharides found on bacteria should only be in your gut. Not in your blood!
Whats so bad about bacteria in your blood?
Elevated LPS indicates inflammation. And not just any type of inflammation, but chronic inflammation. Im sure you wont be surprised to learn that elevated levels of LPS are connected to chronic fatigue syndrome. When researchers combined LPS markers with the types of bacteria found in patients guts, they were able to accurately predict the likelihood of chronic fatigue.
The simple addition of a probiotic supplement decreases LPS levels and improves the tight junctions of your intestinal tract. By improving the tight junctions, you are healing your leaky gut making it much less leaky! All this is done by simply adding a probiotic supplement.
IBS-related symptoms and probiotics
Intestinal dysbiosis and probiotics
Anxiety, depression, and probiotics
The bacteria in your gut can influence emotions like anxiety and depression.
Inflammation and probiotics
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Beware Of Medications And Birth Control
Are you aware of your medications side effects?
Some can disrupt your hormone balance, leading to side effects like fatigue, appetite changes, altered sleeping patterns, low libido, sadness and even depression. Some medications that can mess with your hormone balance include corticosteroids, stimulants, statins, dopamine agonists, rexinoids and glucocorticoids. Beware of your medications, talk to your doctor about the side effects and research natural alternatives whenever possible.
Birth control is another dangerous medication that alters hormone levels. The pill is a type of hormone therapy that raises estrogen levels to sometime dangerous levels that it can cause many complications. I cannot urge you strongly enough to do your research and stop using the pill, especially considering that there are many other ways to prevent pregnancy.
Studies show that the health risks of taking them, especially long-term, such as:
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Breakthrough bleeding between cycles
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Increased risk of uterine bleeding, blood clotting, heart attack and stroke
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Migraines
Have You Experienced Side Effects Of Probiotics
If youve experienced side effects from taking probiotics, mention the specific side effects you endured and their respective severities within the comments section below. To help others get a better understanding of your situation, provide some personal details such as: the bacterial composition of your probiotic, the manufacturer of your supplement, and the dose you were taking each day . Also report the duration over which you administered your probiotic, whether you were using any other substances along with it, and/or if you have any medical conditions that mightve made you more susceptible to side effects.
For those that have used a probiotic supplement over an extended duration, have side effects: diminished, remained the same, or worsened over time? It may also be helpful to document whether you have a history of regular antibiotic usage and/or if you exhibit any genetic abnormalities that could explain adverse reactions to probiotics . Is there any particular probiotic brand and/or species that you consistently tolerate better than others?
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Common Side Effects Of Probiotics In Dogs
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Probiotics are live bacteria presented in capsule or liquid form that provide numerous benefits to a dogs overall health. Bacteria species found in most canine probiotics include Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and S. thermophilus, all gram-positive bacteria that colonize within a dogs gastrointestinal system, eliminate harmful bacteria and restore optimal levels of good gut microbiota.
Can Probiotics Make You Feel Tired
In the scientific community, the discussion about whether or not probiotics can make you feel tired started in June 2018. This year, a paper was published in the journal Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology describing patients who received probiotic treatment and went through a condition called Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth and D-Lactic acidosis. These conditions led to brain fogginess in these patients, which feels pretty much the same as tiredness and fatigue.
Brain Fogginess and Tiredness Probiotic Research
with thanks www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
D-Lactate was reported to be behind thesefindings. It is a molecule synthesized by certain bacteria as a result offermentation, and unlike L-Lactate , thisvariant of lactate is not quickly metabolized by the liver. Thus, when producedmassively by these bacteria, it is likely to be accumulated.
The thing about D-Lactate accumulation inthe body is that this is lactic acid, and increases the acidity in the bloodand the tissues. After a while, D-Lactic acidosis reaches the brain and blocksnerve connections in the brain, causing the sensation of brain fog and makingpatients feel tired.
However, as mentioned before, there is anongoing debate, and this is not the only scientific article covering the topic.As we will see further, other authors are against the notion that probioticswill cause D-Lactic acidosis, and have criticized and commented upon thefindings of the study published in 2018.
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