Microbiome

The Microbiome and Bisphenol A (BPA) Exposure

About BPA and Health Impacts Bisphenol A (BPA) has gained a lot of attention over the past several years as a toxic component of plastics. BPA is an environmental estrogen that modulates endocrine systems by competing with estradiol for binding with estrogen receptors. Estrogenic effects […]

Chlorinated Water and the Microbiome

Health Consequences of Chlorine Of the many things that can disrupt our gut microbiome, one of the most insidious is chlorinated drinking water. It is well known that large concentrations of chlorine are harmful to people, but a general argument persists that smaller doses aren’t […]

Resistant Starch

What is Resistant Starch? Resistant starch (RS) a type of carbohydrate that isn’t readily digestible. It is generally thought to pass through the small intestine undigested, making it to the large intestine where it is slowly fermented. Once in the large intestine, it feeds bacteria […]

Microbe Mondays: Kombucha

What is Kombucha? Kombucha is sweetened black or green tea that is fermented with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). It is thought to have originated in China and spread east through Russia, Germany, and Western Europe. Though kombucha is made with sugar, […]

Microbiome: Bolster Your Bifidos

Last week I talked about the ability of microbes to produce B vitamins. Bifidobacteria are the star of that show (among many others). So I wanted to write a post about ways we can help our own bifidos along.

Why I Don’t Follow a Low-Carb Diet

Though it seems to be calming down a little bit (I hope), there has been an ongoing and very heated debate about how many carbs people should eat. It often boils down to an argument about whether we “need” them, at least for optimal […]

Vitamin-Producing Microbes

Micronutrient deficiency is a common problem, especially for people following a standard american diet (SAD), but even among those of us who follow an ancestral diet. Even when eating whole, nutrient-dense foods and avoiding processed, nutrient-robbing foods, it can be challenging to get everything our […]

Antioxidants and the Gut Microbiome

There’s a great deal of evidence to suggest that consuming polyphenol-rich foods has beneficial health effects. When we hear people talk about foods that are high in antioxidants, they are usually referring to the polyphenol content. Polyphenols are the compounds within plants that protect the […]

The Microbiome and The GMO Debate

With the Right to Know initiative on the upcoming Oregon ballot, I thought it might be a relevant time to address some of the potential relationships between genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and the human gut microbiome. This post details the relationship between GMOs and the […]

From Gut to Brain to Gut and Back Again

Gut health is about so much more than just the gut. I remember in college neuroscience classes, learning about neurotransmitters and how there is more serotonin in the gut than in the brain (about 95% of our serotonin lies in the gut). At the time, […]

The Weird Life