[g_podcast id="12692177"]
Do you suffer from chronic intestinal complaints, flatulence, constipation, diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome?
Do you feel tired all the time or do you have a bowel-related illness?
Have you already done a lot, but still haven't made any decisive progress and want to finally find out what's wrong with your gut?
Then it's worth taking a closer look at the state of your gut flora using microbiome analysis to find out whereyour weak points arein the gut.
In this episode, I talk about
Today I would like to talk aboutmicrobiome analysis. In this case, an analysis of our gut microbiome.
When we talk about the gut microbiome ormicrobiota, we mean all the microorganisms that colonize our gut. And this microbiome is now considered an organ in its own right.
Weactually not onlyhave a microbiome in the gut, but also on the skin, in the mouth, in the genital area, in the stomach and in the lungs....
But today we are focusing on the gut. An exciting fact is that around 2 kilograms of bacteria live in your body! If you think about how much an intestinal bacterium weighs, then you can imagine how many bacteria 2 kg are. There are about 100 trillion.
And these intestinal bacteria can - to put it very exaggeratedly - be divided into "good" and "bad". This means that the bacteria (it is estimated that there are around 10,000 different species) have different tasks.
I like to compare this with a city or a community, there are gardeners, electricians, teachers, thieves, beggars and many more. They all do what is assigned to them by their profession.
And wherever living beings live together, there are all kinds of situations. Friendships, enmities, cooperation, tolerance or disagreements. However, it is not only their behavior towards each other that plays a role, but also the living conditions, climatic conditions or environmental pollution.
We give bacteria food and a roof over their heads. They live with us, but they are not our slaves. They are warm and comfortable, but if they don't like it here, they can leave. They then take the back exit and disappear.
But because they do a lot of useful things for us, it is important to provide them with a comfortable home.Many people think they only have intestinal problems when they can't go to the toilet or when they have diarrhoea.
However, an imbalance in the intestinal flora not only affects digestion, but also the body's ability to produce hormones, for example. Or absorb nutrients. Or on the function of our immune system, inflammatory mechanisms and much more.
That's why a variety of symptoms should actually make you sit up and take notice of your gut health.
I'll simply list the most important signs that should make you prick up your ears:
As you can see, the gut plays a direct role in pretty much all diseases of civilization!
And according to doctors and scientists, diseases such as heart attacks and diabetes are also linked to the gut. So it is simply advisable to give this organ all the attention it deserves.
This is precisely why the topic of gut health plays such an important rolefor meand whyI havededicated this podcast and my online coaching program Gut Happiness to this topic.
"Death is in the gut", Hippocrates once said. And so is health.
In conventional medicine, you are probably familiar with colonoscopy or checking for blood in the stool and inflammatory markers in the stool, such ascalprotectin. Recently, you can even swallow a video capsule to have your inner world recorded on video.
And quite a few people have regular colonoscopies as part of their preventive check-ups.The advantages of a colonoscopy are that it can detect whether a serious illness such as Crohn's disease,ulcerativecolitis or bowel canceris present. Smaller things such as polyps can also be removed in the same procedure.
The disadvantage is that it is an invasive procedure. It is usually performed under anesthesia, which is of course associated with a certain risk of anesthesia. Other complications such as bleeding or the spread of bacteria can also occur.
It is important to know that the lens of the device cannot see things such as the microbiology or changes in the intestinal environment, which is why people with intestinal complaints often receive a positive report after the colonoscopy (i.e. everything is fine), even though they do not feel well and know that something is wrong in their intestines. This is because a shift in the bacterial balance simply cannot be detected with a colonoscopy.
The topic of the gut and gut flora is a "hot topic" at the moment, and yet many people don't know that you can have your gut flora analyzed quite easily, namely using a Stool analysis.
On the one hand, because it increases your willingness to really do something for your gut when you see that the current condition is anything but optimal. Because the analysis shows this in black and white.
On the other hand, the analysis is also helpful when it comes to determining the intestinal cleansing products that you can take to get your intestinal situation back in order.
Here I recommend a moleculargeneticmicrobiome analysis. The difference to previous methods is that genetic material of the bacteria is searched for in certain values. This means that they can also be found if they have come into contact with oxygen. This was not possible with previous methods because the bacteria were then dead and therefore no longer measurable.
Wework with one of the oldest, largest and most advanced laboratories for stool analysis, namelyBiovis. I also recommend that you have a comprehensive analysis, especially if you also want to derive nutritional measures from it.
The microbiome test istherefore a very comprehensive examination and provides information about the condition of the intestinal flora, the pH value in the intestine, whether harmful bacteria are present, whether there may also be candida or mold, and the condition of the mucous membrane, whether you have enoughbutyrate formers (which is important for inhibiting inflammation), whether there are any suspected intolerances and whether you mayalso havea permeable intestinal mucosa (leaky gut) or increased histamine, which would then also affect the dietary recommendations from our side.
The following values, among others, are tested here:
I would like to show you what you can see from a simple stool sample.
My standard values, which I always have determined, are:
pH value
ThepH value provides information about the so-called intestinal environment, which in turn is similar to that in nature. There needs to be an optimal acid-base balance in the digestive tract. The range of the optimumpH value is very narrow so that the internal ecosystem can function ideally.
From the stomach to the rectum, the pH value changes from approx. 3.0 - 6.5, so it is always in the acidic range!
Bacterial phyla
These provide information about whether your intestinal flora can successfully defend itself against harmful bacteria trying to colonize your intestinal mucosa. It also shows whether there are deficits in beneficial bacteria or whether there are indications of inflammation and also whether you tend to have diarrhea.
Butyrate formers
Show whether inflammation can be successfully combated and whether the body is able to build up intestinal mucosa.
Fungi (Candida, mold)
The Candida fungus is always in our intestines, but it should not spread involuntarily. That would be asign that it likes it too much and that would mean that the pH value in the intestine is too alkaline.It can certainly be compared with nature.
We look for fungi in places where it is moist, warm and rather alkaline in terms of the soil.
If the fungi in your gut have multiplied too much, then it is important that this condition is reversed. This is because they can trigger symptoms such as migraines, diarrhea, flatulence or even attacks of ravenous hunger or recurring yeast infections or bladder infections.
Digestive residues (digestive disorder)
If there is too much sugar in the stool, this can indicate a digestive disorder caused by fructose or lactose. And too much fat in the stool can indicate nutritional errors or a difficulty in digesting fat. These statements can also be used to adapt the diet to the respective circumstances.
Zonulin
This protein regulates thetight junctions, the "sluices of the mucous membrane".Zonulin opens or closes the channels between the intestine and the blood. This enables the selective transport of amino acids, sugars, fatty acids and immunoglobulins.
In the worst case, broken down food proteins, bacterialendotoxins or Candida antigenscan also pass through opentight junctions.
This is referred to as "leaky gut", which means a perforated or permeable intestine. This condition can trigger inflammation, food intolerances or auto-immune diseases.
I like tocomparezonulin to a customs officer who checks at the border to see who is allowed in and who is not.
Histamine
I always refer to histamine as analarm that is elevated when something is wrong. It's an inflammation that causes a lot of Can trigger things such as:
Histamine in the stool cannot be compared with histamine in the blood, but it is very easy to get under control with a low-histamine diet.
Diversity
The variety of bacteria in the gut (diversity) can vary greatly from person to person. Antibiotics, infections, increasing age, an unbalanced diet or smoking are all causes of decreasing diversity.
This is at the expense of our health, or in other words, we lack the workers for certain tasks.
Those who claim that stool analysis does not provide accurate results, is not scientific or only reflects what we have just eaten are wrong.
Because if this were the case, therapy would be much easier and less time-consuming. I would only have to eat differently for a few days and everything would be fine again.
But the fact is that it takes more than just a few days to bring the intestinal flora back into balance and it therefore takes much longer to bring it back to its current state.
The stool analysis is therefore not a snapshot, but a reflection of the condition that has built up over months and years.
We are often told that diet plays no role in inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease or conditions such as neurodermatitis or psoriasis. We experience the opposite in practice. And we prefer to believe what we see with our own eyes.
The procedure is very simple.
You order the microbiome analysisfrom us by sending us an e-mail. The analysis costs CHF 690, which of course includes not only the analysis, but also a video from us explaining your values and recommending the next steps in terms of diet and nutritional supplements based on your values in order to bring your values back into the green zone.
You will then receive a stool analysis kit from us with sample tubes and a so-called "stool catcher". This allows you to fill the tubes with stool samples, send thesamples to the laboratory in Switzerland, Germany or Austriausing the enclosed return envelope. Austria (depending on where you live).
About 2-3 weeks later you will receive the result of the analysis from us, including our interpretation of your analysis and a recommendation for further action.
If everything is fine (which is very rarely the case), then we should probably analyze your daily diet in more detail or carry out further tests, because your symptoms must be coming from somewhere.
However, if there are measured values that are outside the norm, we will suggest which products and, if necessary, dietary changes you can use to bring these values back into balance.
Before you ask: the costs are not covered by health insurance. We will provide you with the results of the analysis and our interpretation and suggestions as to what you can do to rebalance your gut.
Both in terms of diet and intestinal cleansing agents such asprobiotics, prebiotics or other products.
If you are now wondering whether you should have your gut flora analyzed, please contact us!
In the next episode, I talk to naturopath SandraFroidevaux about the importance of natural cosmetics and she also gives a few tips on how you can make them yourself.
Now I recommend you subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if you like what you hear, I'd really appreciate a review on iTunes or Apple Podcast. Because these reviews also help other people find the podcast so we can spread the knowledge about gut and health more.
Do you suffer from chronic intestinal complaints, flatulence, constipation, diarrhea or irritable bowel syndrome?
Do you feel tired all the time or do you have a bowel-related illness?
Have you already done a lot, but still haven't made any decisive progress and want to finally find out what's wrong with your gut?
Then it's worth taking a closer look at the state of your gut flora using microbiome analysis to find out whereyour weak points arein the gut.
In this episode, I talk about
- the exact meaning of the microbiomes
- the causes and symptoms of impaired gut flora
- why I recommend the analysis
- the individual values and their significance
- the exact procedure of themicrobiome analysis
What is meant bya gutmicrobiome?
Today I would like to talk aboutmicrobiome analysis. In this case, an analysis of our gut microbiome.
When we talk about the gut microbiome ormicrobiota, we mean all the microorganisms that colonize our gut. And this microbiome is now considered an organ in its own right.
Weactually not onlyhave a microbiome in the gut, but also on the skin, in the mouth, in the genital area, in the stomach and in the lungs....
But today we are focusing on the gut. An exciting fact is that around 2 kilograms of bacteria live in your body! If you think about how much an intestinal bacterium weighs, then you can imagine how many bacteria 2 kg are. There are about 100 trillion.
And these intestinal bacteria can - to put it very exaggeratedly - be divided into "good" and "bad". This means that the bacteria (it is estimated that there are around 10,000 different species) have different tasks.
I like to compare this with a city or a community, there are gardeners, electricians, teachers, thieves, beggars and many more. They all do what is assigned to them by their profession.
And wherever living beings live together, there are all kinds of situations. Friendships, enmities, cooperation, tolerance or disagreements. However, it is not only their behavior towards each other that plays a role, but also the living conditions, climatic conditions or environmental pollution.
We give bacteria food and a roof over their heads. They live with us, but they are not our slaves. They are warm and comfortable, but if they don't like it here, they can leave. They then take the back exit and disappear.
Causes and symptoms of disturbed intestinal flora
But because they do a lot of useful things for us, it is important to provide them with a comfortable home.Many people think they only have intestinal problems when they can't go to the toilet or when they have diarrhoea.
However, an imbalance in the intestinal flora not only affects digestion, but also the body's ability to produce hormones, for example. Or absorb nutrients. Or on the function of our immune system, inflammatory mechanisms and much more.
That's why a variety of symptoms should actually make you sit up and take notice of your gut health.
I'll simply list the most important signs that should make you prick up your ears:
- Diarrhea, constipation, flatulence
- Irritability / mood swings
- Depression
- Dementia
- Thyroid problems
- Skin problems such as blemished skin, rashes, psoriasis or neurodermatitis
- asthma
- hay fever
- Autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease, Hashimoto's disease, Crohn's disease or multiple sclerosis
- ADHD
- Food intolerances
- Lactose orfructose intolerance
- Histamine intolerance
- Joint problems such as arthrosis, arthritis
- Chronic pain
- Sleep problems
- Strong appetite for sweets
- Anything to do with mucous membranes (chronic sinus congestion or recurring sinus infections) Cystitis)
- Overweight
"Death is in the gut"
As you can see, the gut plays a direct role in pretty much all diseases of civilization!
And according to doctors and scientists, diseases such as heart attacks and diabetes are also linked to the gut. So it is simply advisable to give this organ all the attention it deserves.
This is precisely why the topic of gut health plays such an important rolefor meand whyI havededicated this podcast and my online coaching program Gut Happiness to this topic.
"Death is in the gut", Hippocrates once said. And so is health.
So what should you do if you suspect that something is wrong with your gut?
In conventional medicine, you are probably familiar with colonoscopy or checking for blood in the stool and inflammatory markers in the stool, such ascalprotectin. Recently, you can even swallow a video capsule to have your inner world recorded on video.
And quite a few people have regular colonoscopies as part of their preventive check-ups.The advantages of a colonoscopy are that it can detect whether a serious illness such as Crohn's disease,ulcerativecolitis or bowel canceris present. Smaller things such as polyps can also be removed in the same procedure.
The disadvantage is that it is an invasive procedure. It is usually performed under anesthesia, which is of course associated with a certain risk of anesthesia. Other complications such as bleeding or the spread of bacteria can also occur.
It is important to know that the lens of the device cannot see things such as the microbiology or changes in the intestinal environment, which is why people with intestinal complaints often receive a positive report after the colonoscopy (i.e. everything is fine), even though they do not feel well and know that something is wrong in their intestines. This is because a shift in the bacterial balance simply cannot be detected with a colonoscopy.
The topic of the gut and gut flora is a "hot topic" at the moment, and yet many people don't know that you can have your gut flora analyzed quite easily, namely using a Stool analysis.
Why do I recommend a stool analysis?
On the one hand, because it increases your willingness to really do something for your gut when you see that the current condition is anything but optimal. Because the analysis shows this in black and white.
On the other hand, the analysis is also helpful when it comes to determining the intestinal cleansing products that you can take to get your intestinal situation back in order.
Here I recommend a moleculargeneticmicrobiome analysis. The difference to previous methods is that genetic material of the bacteria is searched for in certain values. This means that they can also be found if they have come into contact with oxygen. This was not possible with previous methods because the bacteria were then dead and therefore no longer measurable.
Wework with one of the oldest, largest and most advanced laboratories for stool analysis, namelyBiovis. I also recommend that you have a comprehensive analysis, especially if you also want to derive nutritional measures from it.
The microbiome test istherefore a very comprehensive examination and provides information about the condition of the intestinal flora, the pH value in the intestine, whether harmful bacteria are present, whether there may also be candida or mold, and the condition of the mucous membrane, whether you have enoughbutyrate formers (which is important for inhibiting inflammation), whether there are any suspected intolerances and whether you mayalso havea permeable intestinal mucosa (leaky gut) or increased histamine, which would then also affect the dietary recommendations from our side.
The following values, among others, are tested here:
- pH value in the intestine
- Bacterial diversity
- Composition of the large bacterial groups (bacterial distribution)
- Dysbiosis index
- Bacterial phyla with the most important genera and species (e.g.bifidobacteria,butyrate formers,clostridia)
- Pathogenic or potentially pathogenic bacteria
- Immunogenic acting bacteria
- Mucosal build-up
- Inflammation of the intestinal mucosa
- Yeasts / molds (e.g. Candida)
- parasites
- Digestive residues
- Zonulin
- tryptophan
- histamine
I would like to show you what you can see from a simple stool sample.
My standard values, which I always have determined, are:
pH value
ThepH value provides information about the so-called intestinal environment, which in turn is similar to that in nature. There needs to be an optimal acid-base balance in the digestive tract. The range of the optimumpH value is very narrow so that the internal ecosystem can function ideally.
From the stomach to the rectum, the pH value changes from approx. 3.0 - 6.5, so it is always in the acidic range!
Bacterial phyla
These provide information about whether your intestinal flora can successfully defend itself against harmful bacteria trying to colonize your intestinal mucosa. It also shows whether there are deficits in beneficial bacteria or whether there are indications of inflammation and also whether you tend to have diarrhea.
Butyrate formers
Show whether inflammation can be successfully combated and whether the body is able to build up intestinal mucosa.
Fungi (Candida, mold)
The Candida fungus is always in our intestines, but it should not spread involuntarily. That would be asign that it likes it too much and that would mean that the pH value in the intestine is too alkaline.It can certainly be compared with nature.
We look for fungi in places where it is moist, warm and rather alkaline in terms of the soil.
If the fungi in your gut have multiplied too much, then it is important that this condition is reversed. This is because they can trigger symptoms such as migraines, diarrhea, flatulence or even attacks of ravenous hunger or recurring yeast infections or bladder infections.
Digestive residues (digestive disorder)
If there is too much sugar in the stool, this can indicate a digestive disorder caused by fructose or lactose. And too much fat in the stool can indicate nutritional errors or a difficulty in digesting fat. These statements can also be used to adapt the diet to the respective circumstances.
Zonulin
This protein regulates thetight junctions, the "sluices of the mucous membrane".Zonulin opens or closes the channels between the intestine and the blood. This enables the selective transport of amino acids, sugars, fatty acids and immunoglobulins.
In the worst case, broken down food proteins, bacterialendotoxins or Candida antigenscan also pass through opentight junctions.
This is referred to as "leaky gut", which means a perforated or permeable intestine. This condition can trigger inflammation, food intolerances or auto-immune diseases.
I like tocomparezonulin to a customs officer who checks at the border to see who is allowed in and who is not.
Histamine
I always refer to histamine as analarm that is elevated when something is wrong. It's an inflammation that causes a lot of Can trigger things such as:
- Food intolerance
- Allergies in the airways or on the skin
- High and low blood pressure
- Disorders of the thyroid gland
Histamine in the stool cannot be compared with histamine in the blood, but it is very easy to get under control with a low-histamine diet.
Diversity
The variety of bacteria in the gut (diversity) can vary greatly from person to person. Antibiotics, infections, increasing age, an unbalanced diet or smoking are all causes of decreasing diversity.
This is at the expense of our health, or in other words, we lack the workers for certain tasks.
Stool analysis is still often ridiculed
Those who claim that stool analysis does not provide accurate results, is not scientific or only reflects what we have just eaten are wrong.
Because if this were the case, therapy would be much easier and less time-consuming. I would only have to eat differently for a few days and everything would be fine again.
But the fact is that it takes more than just a few days to bring the intestinal flora back into balance and it therefore takes much longer to bring it back to its current state.
The stool analysis is therefore not a snapshot, but a reflection of the condition that has built up over months and years.
We are often told that diet plays no role in inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease or conditions such as neurodermatitis or psoriasis. We experience the opposite in practice. And we prefer to believe what we see with our own eyes.
How does it work if I want to have my intestinal flora analyzed?
The procedure is very simple.
You order the microbiome analysisfrom us by sending us an e-mail. The analysis costs CHF 690, which of course includes not only the analysis, but also a video from us explaining your values and recommending the next steps in terms of diet and nutritional supplements based on your values in order to bring your values back into the green zone.
You will then receive a stool analysis kit from us with sample tubes and a so-called "stool catcher". This allows you to fill the tubes with stool samples, send thesamples to the laboratory in Switzerland, Germany or Austriausing the enclosed return envelope. Austria (depending on where you live).
About 2-3 weeks later you will receive the result of the analysis from us, including our interpretation of your analysis and a recommendation for further action.
If everything is fine (which is very rarely the case), then we should probably analyze your daily diet in more detail or carry out further tests, because your symptoms must be coming from somewhere.
However, if there are measured values that are outside the norm, we will suggest which products and, if necessary, dietary changes you can use to bring these values back into balance.
Before you ask: the costs are not covered by health insurance. We will provide you with the results of the analysis and our interpretation and suggestions as to what you can do to rebalance your gut.
Both in terms of diet and intestinal cleansing agents such asprobiotics, prebiotics or other products.
If you are now wondering whether you should have your gut flora analyzed, please contact us!
In the next episode, I talk to naturopath SandraFroidevaux about the importance of natural cosmetics and she also gives a few tips on how you can make them yourself.
Now I recommend you subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if you like what you hear, I'd really appreciate a review on iTunes or Apple Podcast. Because these reviews also help other people find the podcast so we can spread the knowledge about gut and health more.
