[Daniel]

Hey ,

With my questions, I am actually trying to find out whether the pain you mean is caused by the intestines or by something around the intestines. However, I realize this is better done by a doctor or other healthcare professional sitting opposite you.

After all this time, taking a fresh look at basic habits is also good!

For example: for a good colon transit time you need sufficient exercise. So if you sit a lot, there is a lot of profit to be made.

If you eat a lot of sugar, this can affect the composition of the bacteria in your intestine.

Do you know how many grams of fibre you eat? A lack of SCFA in the feces may be due to insufficient types of bacteria that produce SCFAs, but the test shows that there are strains present that produce SCFA. The SCFAs may be absorbed by the body due to the long transit time. But it may also be that in the days before the GI Effects test you hadn’t consumed enough fibre.

Being sufficient in magnesium, eating the right types of fats, being sufficiently hydrated and consuming enough food are other basics that influence transit time. Are there things on the list you can feel you can improve on?

Medications (such as antidepressants) can also contribute to constipation. Have any of your doctors looked at all the side effects of your current medications?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

Well, the first step is determining if the pain is really caused by the gut. Unfortunately that’s hard to assess from here. I’m assuming a healthcare professional helped you find out, but if it’s just an assumption, you might want to ask someone first!

Besides the awful pain and the bloated feeling, can you tell me more about what you (don’t) feel?
• Are you gassy?
• How often per day do you poop currently?
• How do you score on the Bristol stool chart? (You’ll find good pictures on google)
• What color is your stool? And is it light or dark?
• Do you also feel pain in the groin?  (see pictures attached)[groin.jpg]

[Daniel]

Hey ,

It’s amazing he wants to work on his health and he and that he gets such great support from you!

I think, if he eats meat, it’s easier for him to get in his proteins and because most people who train do not consume enough protein, it is good not to rely solely on shakes for the recovery of their muscles.

I usually recommend my clients consume 1.8 – 2.2 grams of protein per kg of body weight. That’s about 1 gram per pound of bodyweight. So for someone weighing 200 lbs that is about 200 grams.

A shake often contains about 30 grams. So getting him to eat more is important.

I like PurePaleo from Designs for Health. It comes unflavoured (yugh!… but with an excellent recipe it will make a nice smoothy) and it comes in chocolate and vanilla. There is also a vegan version. My guess is you’ll love this product better. The product is called Phytotein and it’s composed of organic pea protein with additional protein from organic sunflower, pumpkin seed, sacha inchi, and rice sources.

Since your husband likes to work on his health, he might like this handout as well. It talks about the root causes of high (and low) blood pressure and what you can do about it!

Let me know if you’ve got any further questions!

[Daniel]

,

I was just making an example, there can be other contributing factors to slow transit time besides SIBO.  I just wanted to raise the awareness that the slow transit time could have other root causes.

Direct SCFA markers are more accurate. Especially if they are more recent. I would give more weight to the stool test since SIBO comes in different varieties.
 
The results of the smart pill are from 2021. I wouldn’t give too much weight to the results of these tests anymore. The microbiome changes with how you eat and you applied quite a few changes in those 2 years I believe.

Even if you still have SIBO (read carefully: I’m not saying you have SIBO right now!), the composition of the bacteria could have changed!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

In this test, they didn’t measure SCFA. What they mentioned in the results they mention that a low caecal pH is suggestive for increased production of SCFA produced by gut bacteria. But they only measured the pH.

The low pH could be indicative of SIBO.

Basically what they say is: it could be you had more bacteria and therefore more SCFA production.

The delayed colonic transit could be caused by other factors as well. If the medication wasn’t working, it would be more likely that other factors might be at play as well. For example, a slow thyroid can also cause a delayed colonic transit time. Linaclotide wouldn’t help with that

[Daniel]

Hey  ,

Let me answer your questions!

Questions about the recording:
What Dr. Ralph is saying is that Atorvastatin & rosuvastatin have the potential to increase insulin resistance. He is a fan of red yeast rice as a natural alternative to statin medication. Red yeast rice contains chemicals that are similar to prescription statin medications. One of these, called monacolin K, has the same makeup as the drug lovastatin.

Questions related to your husband’s wish to increase protein:
Am I right to assume that the goal of your husband is to lose weight and that he would like to increase protein to decrease muscle loss as much as possible? If so, can you tell me a little more about his health & lifestyle? For example:  
• how are his kidneys functioning? 
• Is he on a plant-based diet? And can you give me an indication of how much protein he is currently having in his diet? 
• How high is his blood pressure with the medication?
• How high would his blood pressure be without the calcium channel blocker he uses?
• What type of workouts is he doing and what benefits would he like to get from his workouts? 

[Daniel]

Hey  ,

For some reason, I can’t open the pdf. Perhaps the password you gave isn’t the right one?

[Daniel]

,

I totally over focused on the iodine in the lab yesterday, I’m sorry! Low bodyweight, low muscle muscle mass and dietary choices like low protein intake can cause lower creatinine levels. With these values I would adv se you to rule out kidney and liver dysfunction as well. Especially in combination with symptoms of kidney problems!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

That’s exciting for both of you! Your son is lucky with such a caring mother! Is there anything in particular you are worried about?

There is a handout called B’s Medicine Cabinet Must Haves in which you can find some general inspiration if you like. 

If he is sick regularly, you can also perhaps teach him the importance of nutrients that are needed to build white blood cells like vitamin D, A, zinc and vitamin B12.

Let us know if you are searching for something more specific!

[Daniel]

Hey ,

While editing my response I must have by accident deleted the hyperlink to the supplement, I’m sorry! I was referring to this product from Designs for Health: Super Liquid Folate. It contains folate (but in a different form) and a tiny bit of vitamin B12.

I’m saying tiny. But compared to the amount of B12 in food it’s still a lot.

You can use it together with your current B complex. Make sure you combine both supplements with food.

You can use it in 2 ways:

1️⃣ Take it together with the other B complex. If you do it like this it will increase your serum B12, but not a lot. 

2️⃣ Take it away from the other B complex. If you do it like this, it will increase your serum B12 more.
The reason has to do with the 2 different ways in which vitamin B12 gets absorbed. One is very efficient. One is super inefficient. 

The efficient way depends on intrinsic factor (a taxi for B12) produced by the stomach. 

In the first scenario (1️⃣), you’re taking both supplements together. You might get more B12, but since all intrinsic factor is already being taken up, the extra B12 from Super Liquid Folate depends on the super inefficient way to enter the body.

In the second scenario (2️⃣), you’re taking super liquid folate away from the b complex. Now the B12 from super liquid folate doesn’t compete with the other B12 from the B complex for intrinsic factor. Taking the supplements in this way can push your serum B12 harder.

I hope it now makes sense now

[Daniel]

Hey ,

According to this test, it’s low. Testing Iodine however can be done in several ways and there is some discussion as to how accurate some of these tests are. A 24-hour iodine loading test looks like one of the most accurate ways to test iodine, but I don’t believe that this is the result of such a test. If you like to know more about the pros and cons of a 24 hours iodine loading test, I recommend you watch this movie as well. 

Tests alone never paint the entire picture. If symptoms of iodine deficiency are present (you can find a summary here) you might want to know if you’re iodine deficient. Low iodine can cause a hypothyroid state and this test might make you more suspicious. Just keep in mind that there are other ways to get symptoms of hypothyroidism.

[Daniel]

Hey     

Designs for Health has a liquid supplement that would fit. The form of folate would be slightly different – and perhaps you might react better to this one. 

You’ve encountered this form before I believe when you were exploring supplements for seeking health: folinic acid (or calcium folinate as it’s called as well). This form of folate is also suitable for people who have a common mutation of the MTHFR gene. If you aren’t familiar with this, don’t worry. Forget I wrote it!

The amount of B12 in the supplement is low. Still, it could impact your serum B12 significantly. B12 absorption goes either via diffusion (which is very very very inefficient) or B12 binds to intrinsic factor produced in the stomach. 

If you’re taking this supplement with a different meal as you would take your liquid B complex from Metabolix, the B12 can bind to the available unused intrinsic factor produced in the stomach, pushing your B12 up significantly.

If you don’t like to raise your B12 that much, you can take this supplement together with the liquid B complex. That probably won’t change your B12 status much since the extra B12 needs to enter the body via diffusion.

This is how you can play a bit with your vitamin B12 status. Just remember while doing this: your B12 status was always slightly below the ideal range. That means, to get it up in the ideal range, it probably needs a very gentle push. 

That’s why I would choose this one

[Daniel]

Hey  ,

Although your folate levels struggle to get up, I wouldn’t conclude that the supplement isn’t working. There can be more reasons for why folate isn’t going up:
• Impaired absorption: gut issues can decrease folate uptake. For example, people with celiac disease or yeast overgrowth can struggle to absorb different nutrients. 
• Increased need by the body: The body simply requires more folate than is absorbed. Folate is for example a cofactor for the enzyme HMNT that helps break down histamine. If you’re dealing with histamine intolerance, the body needs more folate. 

Folate is needed to create red blood cells as well.
• Alcohol: drinking alcohol can decrease folate absorption. Alcohol can also be internally produced by yeast when a yeast overgrowth is present. In fact, this is why we use yeast to brew beer for example.

In short, I think it might not be the supplement that is the problem. it is the folate balance that needs to be addressed. Serum folate is simply the sum of the folate being absorbed and used at that moment in time.

I know I’ve written in earlier posts you could increase the amount of methyl folate if serum folate wouldn’t come up. The amount of folate in the B complex you’re taking is the amount of folate recommended daily and might not be enough to bring serum folate up.

Have you tried that?

[Daniel]

Hey ,

I’m so sorry to hear this! Do you feel this is the result of being more alone? Or are you also worried there might be an underlying health condition?

I feel you like to change something, but are struggling to do so because something about this routine feels good. In those cases with my clients, before I make any plans, I like to have a good conversation about what keeps them in their routine. The most important questions to answer first in my opinion are related to the choices you are currently making and the behaviour you would like to change.

Then the second step is to build a plan from those answers.

These are the questions I usually ask my clients. The more detailed, the better:
• What are the downsides of continuing your current lifestyle choices? (I think you’ve answered this question, but if you like to add something, feel free to do so)
• What are the benefits of your current choices?
This question is important because if there is something you are getting out of the behaviour you like to change, it’s more likely you will get back to your old lifestyle choices.
• What are the benefits of the change you’re seeking?
• And what might be the downside of change?
Let me give an example: if you are a person that likes to have a lot of time alone, it might be difficult to build a plan that is based on social appointments.

If you feel the root cause of your memory problems might be related to your physical health let us know and we can steer you in the right direction as well. If your curious, we’ve got a handout that you might find interesting.

Just click here to find it!

[Daniel]

 
Hey   ,

With autoimmune urticaria (just like with every autoimmune disease in general) there are genetic components and environmental components. In this specific autoimmune disease, the body attacks mastcells. Mastcells produce histamine and this can lead to rashes as well.

It’s worth to discuss with your doctor the option to rule out autoimmune urticaria.

Depending on the cause, we’ve got some good handouts for viral support (click here) or how to approach autoimmune issues (just click here)