[Daniel]

Hey ,

How did things go with the mold inspector? Just asking because I was curious!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

I hope you could already implement some of Bernadette’s excellent tips. Sorry that the response is a little late!

Cortisol affects our electrolyte balance. The body tries to elevate blood pressure, heartbeat and blood sugar with stress.

I believe these blood draws were taken soberly in the morning, weren’t they? If so, the optimal for blood glucose would be levels below 90. Elevations above can happen because of stress (which can influence the immune system) or insulin resistance. So this measurement is not really precise to measure stress, but it can be a clue.

Elevations of hemoglobin could be due to dehydration. There could be different reasons of course – but does this one resonate with you?

I hope you experiencing relief by now!

Elevations in creatinine and CRP are probably caused by the UTI  since both markers get elevated with infections.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

I was wondering how things went with your doctor! What did you decide to do?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

It was my pleasure!

[Daniel]

With vitamin D I usually recommend my clients to use the liquid vitamin D/K2 from Thorne.

To give you better advice on the B supplements, could you tell me which supplement you used?

With calcium, I personally would focus on foods, but if that is tricky I often recommend calcium chelates like calcium malate. In your specific case, I wouldn’t recommend avoiding calcium citrate.

Calcium supplements can contribute to constipation, so go slow and easy there.

Calcium malate from design for health or Dicalcium Malate from Thorne is 2 excellent choices. I wouldn’t consume more than 500-600 mg of calcium from supplements though.

For some reason, I can’t find the ingredient list of the B12 product you mentioned. Methylcobalamin and Adenosylcobalamin are often the ingredients I like to see in a supplement. Perhaps you can share with me what the label says?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

First of all, your gut feeling is right!

Antibiotics can be helpful and lifesaving, but the benefits come often with a price. Having a broad spectrum probiotic like for example Ther-biotic Complete from Klaire Labs is one I often recommend. Fermented foods can be even more therapeutic than probiotics since the diversity of strains and amount of probiotics is often higher. Good sources of probiotics are for example kefir, kombucha, kimchi, beet kwas and sauerkraut.

If you like to dive deeper into what specific beneficial bacteria might help you with loose stools, gas & boating I would recommend reading this handout here.

Hashimoto’s & the gut
There is often a relationship between auto-immune diseases like Hashimoto’s and the gut and yes, probiotics can also play an important role in the healing process. But there is more nuance to it than that. Often with an auto-immune disease the gut lining is more ‘leaky’ and lets undigested food pass into the body. In time, the immune system might develop antibodies to parts in the food, that have a high resemblance with body tissues.

In some cases, this enhanced leakiness of the gut is because of antibiotic use, lack of fibre in the diet, stress, and dysbiosis. But sometimes people experience an overgrowth of microbes in the small intestine. SIBO (or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth) is an example that can contribute to damage to the gut lining. Taking probiotics in such a case isn’t going to help you and might even worsen the dynamic.

But let’s take a step back to your specific situation.

When an infection doesn’t heal or comes back, I often recommend my clients to support their immune systems. Nutrients needed by the immune system are vitamin D, vitamin A, zinc and B vitamins. In the handout, B’s medicine cabinet must-haves & Go-To immune boosting protocol, you can find a protocol on how to support your immune system. In this handout, you can also find tips on what to use with a throat infection.

If you like to support & heal your gut temporarily removing gluten (preferably grains in general) and dairy is something that could help.

Meanwhile helping the gut to heal with specific foods and nutrients can help speed up the process. Obviously, it would be best to start with this when you are off antibiotics. Here are some suggestions for that:
• Zinc carnosine can help repair the gut lining
• miscellaneous herbs (like marshmallow root and slippery elm for example)
• L-Glutamine
• Aloe Vera
• Cabbage juice

Supplements containing a nice blend of ingredients are DGL PLus from Pure encapsulations and Gi Revive from Designs for Health.

Digestive enzymes can help with bringing balance back in the gut as well. Having good amounts of stomach acid kills is the first line of defence against opportunistic bacteria. If you like to investigate if you have enough stomach acid you can try the baking soda test or the HCl acid dosage challenge. Bile helps to create a friendly environment for the endemic bacteria while it can help opportunistic microbes in the gut.

Thyroid Support
Nutrients needed for a healthy thyroid are not only Iodine but also nutrients like iron, zinc, magnesium, vitamins D & A, selenium and protein. Here is a handout if you like to dive deeper into this topic.

I hope you have some additional tools to work on your health problems!

Let me know if you would like to have more information!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Too bad! Most chewable products have some flavours added to them to make them more likeable. Nature’s way has for example a DGL chewable. It does contain sorbitol and mannitol.

Other products often contain xylitol, like for example DGL Root extract from Natural Factors.

I don’t know any of them that are totally free from them, unfortunately.

[Daniel]

, here is the handout that helps you to avoid high-histamine foods.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

You could adjust the amounts a bit. What works for you is something you need to find out experimentally.

In my opinion, VPF should work, but the size of the meals does matter. If you are eating a big meal, even 3 hours before sleeping, this could still impact the quality of your sleep. It could help to have the biggest meal with suhoor (although I have no experience with Ramadan, but I believe it means breakfast right?) while making the evening meals not too big.

Fasting also impacts cortisol levels. If you aren’t eating for a while, your blood sugars are stabilized by elevations in stress hormones during the day. To help break down adrenaline and noradrenaline magnesium plays an important role and could improve sleep quality.

L-theanine (an amino acid in tea) could help you calm down if getting to sleep seems to be the problem. Ashwagandha is a supplement I often recommend if people are sleeping superficially.

I personally have no experience with Ramadan, but perhaps  has some additional tips here.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Designs for Health has DGL Synergie, which is a chewable. Perhaps you could try that one?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Did we miss your question? If so, we are sorry! Let’s dive right into your question!

The microbiome is very much alive and always changing and adapting to its environment. It is influenced for example by bile since bile influences the pH in the gut. The microbiome is influenced by the immune system, stress, motility and what you eat. Especially foods can change the microbiome quickly, which is a good thing since the microbiome tries to adapt to what you feed it.

Even small amounts of opportunistic bacteria have their place in the microbiome. They help for example prime the immune system and when everything works well, the immune system helps keeps the balance so these species don’t overgrow.

Having enough nutrients in the diet to support the immune system (like vitamin D, vitamin A, zinc, folate and vitamin B12) is therefore important to help balance the immune system.

Having an optimal bile flow helps the environment of the gut to keep the balance in the microbiome as well. Here nutrients like taurine, glycine and vitamin B6 play an essential role since they are necessary to produce bile salts. Drinking enough water (such basic advice, but the majority of people struggle with this!) is essential for this as well.

Bile is produced in the liver and stored in the gallbladder and the health of these organs plays an important role as well.

Depending on what kind of blood values you measured we could help you to see if your liver doesn’t struggle and your immune system is functioning optimally. If you feel like sharing them, please do!

H. Pylori
Although H. pylori have a bad reputation, it is also a bacteria an endemic species that live in small amounts in our GI tract (particularly in the stomach). Finding small amounts on a test can therefore occur. H. Pylori can grow once the stomach is lesser acid. To get an indication about if you have low stomach acid you could for example do the baking soda test or a hydrochloric dosing challenge test (just click the link – and if it doesn’t work, I have uploaded the handout below).

Things that reduce stomach acid often can be stress or simply bad eating hygiene. These lifestyle factors are equally important to address. If you like to reduce H. Pylori overgrowth, supplements like mastic gum, zinc carnosine, Matula tea and DGL Licorice can help. A supplement that contains a nice blend of some of these ingredients is a product from Designs for Health called gastromend.

The B Better library has a video on this topic right here.

Klebsiella spp & citrobacter fundii
High levels of Klebsiella are indeed associated with inflammatory disease states. Klebsiella is also known to produce histamine, which is a balanced gut that is simply broken down by the DAO enzyme produced by the lining of the gut. When the lining of the gut is damaged (leaky gut), the DAO enzyme production might go down and some gut healing needs to take place as well. If you experience symptoms that are related to elevations in histamine, I would recommend temporarily avoiding high-histamine foods (This handout can help you!). Supplementing with the DAO enzyme can help you as well until the gut has healed. Things that help the gut heal are for example
• Aloe Vera
• Bone Broth
• Zinc carnosine
• L-Glutamine
• Cabbage juice

There are more options of course. But reducing the number of klebsiella spp and citrobacter fundii should be the first priority.

Supplements with antimicrobials can help reduce the amount. A broad spectrum supplement that I personally advise often is Candibactin AR + BR. Another antimicrobial I often recommend is Biocidin.

Some foods that have antimicrobial properties could help you here as well, like:
• Caprylic acid found in coconut oil or in MCT oil
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Especially oil that leaves a peppery or bitter taste on your tongue is good since this means it contains a lot of polyphenols
• Garlic

Adding a probiotic could help you as well. Strains that help are for example: Lactobacillus acidophilus‚ Bifidobacterium bifidum‚ Bifidobacterium longum‚ Lactobacillus rhamnosus‚ Bifidobacterium breve‚ Lactobacillus casei‚

A broad spectrum probiotic I often recommend to my clients is Ther-Biotic complete from Klaire Labs

If yeast isn’t a problem for you, you could also use Saccharomyces boulardii.

I hope you have some answers to your questions. If I missed something, let me know! Posting your labs will help us to provide you with more targeted advice.

I hope this helps!

[Hydrochloric acid supplement recommended dosage challenge.pdf]

[Daniel]

 Sorry I misread that! I see Bernadette already wrote an excellent response! 

[Daniel]

Hey ,

All dairy containing lactose would trigger someone who is lactose intolerant. To help you avoid dairy we have a handout right here that can help you avoid dairy products.

Kefir based on milk products should be avoided as well, although you can consume water-based kefir. There is even a recipe in the library! Just click here.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Thank you for sharing your symptoms! A lot of these symptoms point to a hypothyroid state, but this is not a surprise to you of course.

Often I recommend my clients to explore what type of slow thyroid they are having. A slow thyroid could be caused by:
• Nutrient deficiencies like Iodine, zinc, iron, magnesium, vitamins A & D, selenium but also protein.
• Stress could also interfere with fT3 production.
• And last but not least, sometimes thyroid hormones become sluggish because of autoimmune issues (like with Hashimoto’s disease).

If you have Hashimoto’s (or other autoimmune diseases) I would recommend avoiding dairy and gluten for a while. Avoiding grains for a while would even be better.

A test can point you in the right direction and help you with making more targeted lifestyle choices. This video explains what you would like to test.

Stomach acid
You mentioned you are currently not taking any stomach acid medication at all – did you used to? If you took stomach acid medications for whatever reason or if you experienced in the past heartburn, you could also do the baking soda test. It is easy to do at home and it can provide you clues as to if your stomach produces enough stomach acid.

Stomach acid is needed to digest protein, and absorb iron. As I mentioned earlier, these nutrients are needed for a healthy thyroid hormone balance.

You can find out how to perform the baking soda test in this document.

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Yes, you are totally right! Hypothyroidism can cause concentration problems because with hypothyroidism energy production goes slower. Also energy production in the brain.

Every disease that creates a significant amount of inflammation can make you feel tired including celiac disease, but so do allergies, fibromyalgia, diabetes, long Covid… the list can get quite overwhelming

Perhaps we can guide you better by asking you first what other kinds of symptoms you are experiencing.

With hypothyroidism, there are other signals your body might give. Do you for example have one of the following other symptoms?
• Feeling cold
• Fatigue
• Hair loss/thinning of hair
• Unexplained weight gain/problems losing weight
• Slowed heart rate
• Constipation
• Slowed Heartrate
• Muscle weakness
• Depression

Symptoms that come with coeliac are typically the following:
• Diarrhea
• Gas
• Feeling bloated
• Abdominal pain
• Nausea/vomiting
• Weight loss
• Fatigue.

Another reason why you might experience fatigue can be anemia. Signs & Symptoms of anemia are for example
• Feeling cold
• Looking pale
• Being short of breath
• Feeling fatigued even after a good night of sleep
• Cold hands & feets
• Tingling sensation in the arms/legs
• Dizziness/lightheadedness
• Headaches
• Feeling weak.

If you have any other symptoms, let us know. They hold the key to helping you in the best way possible!

Lifestyle questions
Perhaps you could tell us also about how you are sleeping. Do you feel rested when you wake up? From when to when do you sleep? Are you waking up in the middle of the night? When and how often?

Other things that can influence concentration are medicines. Are there any you are taking? Don’t forget to think about antacids, any form of painkillers or oral contraceptives.

Other factors that can help us in our search for your concentration problems can be diet related. What do you eat normally for breakfast, lunch and dinner? And do you experience cravings for sweetness (and how often do you give in to these cravings?)

I know these are a lot of questions, but they could help us narrow down the options.