 High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are also known as “good” cholesterol. These particles help to remove cholesterol from the body by carrying it from the rest of the body to the liver, where it’s eliminated. There are a number of ways to help keep your HDL levels in the optimal zone, including exercising, quitting smoking, and taking supplements. There are also certain foods that, in correlation with exercise, can help to raise your HDL levels (and/or improve the ratio of your HDL to LDL levels). What do these foods have in common? High in healthy fats: Foods such as fatty fish, nuts, and seeds are great dietary sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3s are known for their heart-healthy benefits, but they also have the power to raise HDL levels.3,4 High in antioxidants: Known for the role they play in supporting a healthy immune system, antioxidants help to protect our bodies from the damage caused by oxidative stress. Foods high in antioxidants such as berries, grapes, and green tea have an added benefit: A higher antioxidant level is associated with improved HDL numbers.5 HDL is actually an antioxidant itself, helping to prevent the oxidation of lipids on LDL particles and helping to remove free radicals.6,7 So which foods should you add to your next grocery list?  ConclusionSo if your healthcare practitioner has suggested you increase your HDL levels to help optimize your health, consider adding one or more of these foods to your daily diet!
References: 1. Zhou Q et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015;12(5):4726-4738. 2. Brown L et al. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69(1):30-42. 3. Franceschini G et al. Metabolism. 1991;40(12):1283-1286. 4. Yanai H et al. J Clin Med Res. 2018;10(4):281-289. 5. Kim K et al. Nutrients. 2016;8(1):15. 6. Xepapadaki E et al.. Angiology. 2020;71(2): 112-121. 7. Brites F et al. BBA Clinical. 2017;8:66-77.
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 Many of us have learned to “trust our gut.” But if we ask most people what our digestive tract is for, they’ll probably explain it as a way of absorbing nutrients and disposing of waste. So where do phrases such as “trusting our gut” or “unable to stomach the results” come from? It turns out there is a two-way street between our digestive organs and our brains. What we eat and the state of our digestive tract can have a profound impact on our moods and behaviors. And probably unsurprisingly at this point, our gut microbiome is also involved.
Our vagus nerves, which control much of our “rest and digest” response, make a direct connection from our brains to our digestive tracts. Incidentally, these nerves also innervate our heart and communicate with our immune systems.1 These nerves help our brains communicate to our stomachs to start releasing stomach acid and digestive enzymes, and they carry signals from our digestive organs that tell our brains whether we’re hungry or full.1 But there’s a whole lot more to the story than these basic logistical messages. Our thoughts and moods are sending signals to our digestive tract (and immune system) and vice versa.1 Have you ever felt nausea from a stressful situation or lost your appetite from bad news? That message was carried from your brain to digestive tract via your vagus nerve.2 What might be news is that the situation in your digestion can also send signals to your brain.2 Is your digestive system reacting with something you ate? That signal is conveyed to your brain and can color the rest of your day or night.2 And to add another layer of complexity, the bacteria and other organisms in our gut can make or simulate neuroactive molecules like gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), melatonin, and serotonin.2 As you may know, these substances can make a big impact on our mood and how alert we feel. And stress can change the number of healthy bacteria (such as lactobacilli) in our guts and weaken the digestive tract and blood-brain barriers—letting molecules and even bacteria in that would be excluded under normal conditions.2,3 Conversely, consuming some probiotic species can improve our mood.2 This is all to say, everything is connected. I’ve seen many patients with digestive troubles (myself included) who’ve been told by someone, “It’s all in your head.” This is an oversimplified message, because stress and emotions absolutely play a role in digestive health, and the opposite is also true. Likewise, many patients who come in for issues with their mood have related concerns in their digestion that must be addressed before they see significant progress. Often when it comes to health, the symptoms can lead to the root of the problem, but only when you understand the connections. References:
 Did you know that the majority of your immune system is in your gut?1 Picture a lush, harmonious rainforest teeming with diverse forms of life; this is what a healthy gut should look like at a microbial level. With more than 1,000 microbial species, most of which are bacteria, your gut’s microbiome makes up an essential part of your immune system.2 The good bacteria in your gut protect you from pathogenic invaders and keep harmful bacteria from growing out of control. The good bacteria that live in your gut are an essential part of your body’s microbiome. Here are 10 of the best ways to increase your good gut bacteria.
1. Eat whole foods The human body is not meant to run on food-like substances; diet matters! Eating processed foods and refined sugars starves the good bacteria in your gut, allowing harmful bacteria to grow out of control, also known as dysbiosis.3,4 Instead of filling up on processed foods, eat the rainbow. Choosing to eat a wide variety of whole high-fiber foods feeds your good bacteria and, in turn, nourishes your microbiome. Choosing organic produce is also a great way to add good bacteria to your gut’s ecosystem.5 By keeping your good bacteria strong and healthy, they can keep you healthy too. 2. Eat fermented foods The creation of fermented foods dates back thousands of years, as far as 10,000 BCE, with the advent of yogurt; the health benefits of yogurt are described in Ayurvedic scripts from 6,000 BCE.6 Fermented foods are a great way to support your health by adding good bacteria to your gut’s population of roughly 100 trillion bacteria and microbes. Here are some tasty options for adding fermented foods to your daily diet:
Probiotics are “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.”7 Choosing a high-quality clinically supported probiotic is a great way to introduce some new friends to your gut. Different strains of probiotics offer different health benefits; here are six things to look for in a probiotic. 4. Feed your good bacteria Now that you’ve loaded up on good bacteria from probiotic foods, it’s time to feed your new friends! Probiotics and prebiotics go together like, well, probiotics and prebiotics! Prebiotics are fibers that can resist the digestive process; once prebiotics reach the colon, they are “eaten” (selectively fermented) by specific strains of friendly gut bacteria.8,9 Here are some whole foods filled with prebiotics to feed your microscopic friends:10
Research shows a relationship between sleep and diversity within the gut microbiome.11 Consistent, uninterrupted sleep of between seven to nine hours per night has been shown to have a positive correlation to bacterial strains related to good health.12,13 6. Get moving Consistent exercise results in increased good bacteria. In a six-week study, exercise was shown to increase the numbers of certain strains of good bacteria.14 However, when followed by a six-week sedentary period, the increase of microbiota returned to baseline, so it’s important to get moving and stay moving.14 7. Destress Stress has been shown to have a negative impact on gut health. Heightened stress levels can trigger an increase in bad/pathogenic bacteria, crowding out good bacteria.15,16 Try these six simple ways to reduce stress. 8. Get some vitamin D A 2019 study found that skin exposure to UVB light positively impacts the diversity and composition of the human microbiome.17 Vitamin D supplementation also has positive impact on the gut’s microbiome by increasing bacterial diversity and richness.”18,19 9. Take it easy on the cocktails It’s well known that red wine can support good health, but too much alcohol has been shown to have a negative impact on good gut bacteria.20,21 The CDC 2020-2025 guidelines recommend one drink or less in a day for women and two drinks or less in a day for men.22 The CDC guidelines also caution against beginning drinking for possible health benefits and advise that “drinking less is better for health than drinking more.”22,23 The health benefits of red wine likely stem from polyphenols from the grape skins present in the wine-making process.24-27 Polyphenols are complex compounds found in fruits and vegetables that protect plants from pathogens and UV radiation; these compounds act as an antioxidant and as a prebiotic in the human body.28,29 Plenty of foods are packed with polyphenols, such as:30
Smoking causes a decrease in microbiome diversity; smoking withdrawal has been found to increase gut microbial diversity.31 Quitting smoking is a great way to show your little critters some love.31 All of these are great ways to help increase the friendly bugs working hard in your gut. Which will you try first? References: 1. Vighi G et al. Allergy and the gastrointestinal system. Clin Exp Immunol. 2008;153 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):3-6. 2. Wang W et al. Gut microbiota and allogeneic transplantation. J Transl Med. 2015;13:275. 3. Gagliardi A et al. Rebuilding the gut microbiota ecosystem. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15(8):1679. 4. Di Rienzi SC et al. Adaptation of the gut microbiota to modern dietary sugars and sweeteners. Adv Nutr. 2020;11(3):616-629. 5. Blum WEH et al. Does soil contribute to the human gut microbiome? Microorganisms. 2019;7(9):287. 6. Fisberg M et al. History of yogurt and current patterns of consumption. Nutr Rev. 2015;73 Suppl 1:4-7. 7. Hill C et al. The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics consensus statement on the scope and appropriate use of the term probiotic. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014;11(8):506-514. 8. Charalampopoulos D et al. Prebiotics in foods. Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2012;23(2):187-191. 9. Gibson GR et al. Expert consensus document: The International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics (ISAPP) consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2017;14(8):491-502. 10. Jovanovic-Malinovska R et al. Oligosaccharide profile in fruits and vegetables as sources of prebiotics and functional foods. Int J Food Prop. 2014;17(5):949-965. 11. Smith RP et al. Gut microbiome diversity is associated with sleep physiology in humans. PLoS One. 2019;14(10):e0222394. 12. Fei N et al. Gut microbiota alterations in response to sleep length among African-origin adults. PLoS One. 2021;16(9):e0255323. 13. Bowers SJ et al. Repeated sleep disruption in mice leads to persistent shifts in the fecal microbiome and metabolome. PLoS One. 2020;15(2):e0229001. 14. Mailing LJ et al. Exercise and the gut microbiome: a review of the evidence, potential mechanisms, and implications for human health. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2019;47(2):75-85. 15. Zeng MY et al. Mechanisms of inflammation-driven bacterial dysbiosis in the gut. Mucosal Immunol. 2017;10(1):18-26. 16. Kiecolt-Glaser JK et al. Modulation of cellular immunity in medical students. J Behav Med. 1986;9:5–21. 17. Bosman ES et al. Skin exposure to narrow band ultraviolet (UVB) light modulates the human intestinal microbiome. Front Microbiol. 2019;10:2410. 18. Bashir M et al. Effects of high doses of vitamin D3 on mucosa-associated gut microbiome vary between regions of the human gastrointestinal tract. Eur J Nutr. 2016;55(4):1479-1489. 19. Waterhouse M et al. Vitamin D and the gut microbiome: a systematic review of in vivo studies. Eur J Nutr. 2019;58(7):2895-2910. 20. Zhang X et al. Alcohol-induced changes in the gut microbiome and metabolome of rhesus macaques. Psychopharmacology. 2019;236(5):1531-1544. 21. Dubinkina VB et al. Links of gut microbiota composition with alcohol dependence syndrome and alcoholic liver disease. Microbiome. 2017;5(1):141. 22. https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/fact-sheets/moderate-drinking.htm. Accessed September 21, 2021. 23. https://www.dietaryguidelines.gov/sites/default/files/202012/Dietary_Guidelines_for_Americans_2020-2025.pdf. Accessed September 21, 2021. 24. https://journalsblog.gastro.org/is-red-wine-consumption-good-for-your-intestinal-microbiome/. Accessed September 21, 2021. 25. https://www.winespectator.com/articles/understanding-wine-polyphenols-health-benefits. Accessed September 21, 2021. 26. Wiciński M et al. The influence of polyphenol compounds on human gastrointestinal tract microbiota. Nutrients. 2020;12(2):350. 27. Cavallini G et al. Resveratrol requires red wine polyphenols for optimum antioxidant activity. J Nutr Health Aging. 2016;20(5):540-545. 28. Pandey KB et al. Plant polyphenols as dietary antioxidants in human health and disease. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2009;2(5):270-278. 29. Nazzaro F et al. Polyphenols, the new frontiers of prebiotics. Adv Food Nutr Res. 2020;94:35-89. 30. Yang J et al. Polyphenols in foods. Nutri Today. 2016;51(6):290-300. 31. Capurso G et al. The interaction between smoking, alcohol and the gut microbiome. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 2017;31(5):579-588.  By Michael Stanclift, ND The rich orange color of turmeric is a signature of this powerfully healthy Indian spice. Even if you don’t dig the flavour of it in food, you might take turmeric in one of its many supplement forms for health benefits. Curcuma longa is the Latin name for turmeric and also hints at the name of the most talked about molecule in it, curcumin. Many people use “turmeric” and “curcumin” interchangeably, but surprisingly there isn’t that much curcumin in turmeric—curcumin makes up only about 3% of dried turmeric.1 But when we’re talking about the health benefits of turmeric, we’re usually really referring to its famous derivative, curcumin, which is the most studied component. So why has this orange molecule become the darling of healthy living? Curcumin offers a host of health perks, is safe, and is well-tolerated by nearly every patient I’ve recommended it to. Many of the effects essentially boil down to curcumin’s ability to function as an antioxidant or balance the immune response to cellular injury.2 It can improve markers of oxidative stress and increase circulating antioxidants, such as superoxide dismutase, sometimes referred to as SOD.2 Curcumin can block the activation of NF-κB, which is involved in the immune response and can lead to undesirable effects.2 So how are these effects meaningful? Here are some of the research-backed ways I’ve utilized curcumin with the patients I’ve seen:
Before you get started There are a few things you should know about curcumin before you run out and start taking it. First, curcumin isn’t very well absorbed, so it is often combined with other natural substances to help improve absorption. I have used it in formulations where it is combined with a black pepper extract (piperine), which can increase the availability about 20 times, and a fenugreek extract, which can increase the availability about 45 times.2,6 The second thing to know is that while curcumin has a great safety record, there have been cases of people taking a curcumin supplement experiencing liver injury.7,8,9 There’s some speculation that the effect may have come from another ingredient, not the curcumin, and many of the products involved contained piperine, the black pepper extract.7,9,10 In response to these concerns, I found a 90-day study of healthy volunteers who were investigated for signs of toxicity when the subjects were given highly bioavailable curcumin (with fenugreek extract).11 With this formulation no adverse effects were noted in the study, and liver enzymes remained within the normal range.11 There are two morals to this story: Always look for manufacturers with a solid reputation and transparent quality testing for their products, and seek the guidance of an experienced healthcare provider to ensure you’re taking the proper precautions and monitoring. In healthy individuals, doses between 150-1,500 mg have been studied and appear to be beneficial, well-tolerated, and safe.5 The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is a bit more conservative and established an acceptable daily intake (ADI) of curcumin at 3 mg/kg/day.9 For readers in the United States, that translates to roughly 1.36 mg/lb/day or a dose equivalent to about 205 mg/day of curcumin per day for a 150-pound person. Turmeric, along with its most active component curcumin, is clinically versatile and offers a wide range of health benefits. These qualities make it an attractive candidate to include in your healthy lifestyle. Ask your healthcare provider if you might benefit from turmeric or curcumin! References:
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