​When your body’s gut microbiome falls out of balance, there are many ways it can affect your health.
What’s a microbiome? It’s the genetic material of all microbes—bacteria—that live on and inside your body. The good bacteria that contribute to your intestinal microbiome are essential to your health, development, immune function, and nutritional status.
Sound complex? It is! And it’s a delicate balance that can easily be disrupted. Here are five key ways your gut microbiome may be negatively impacted:1

1. Stress
   We all deal with stress, but when it becomes acute and chronic, studies show it can have a physical impact on the gut microbiome, even leading to such gastrointestinal disorders as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), peptic ulcers, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
2. Birth Method
   Studies show, babies born by C-section have reduced bacterial diversity and lower levels of good bacteria than babies born via the birth canal.
3. Exercise
   Lack of exercise has been linked to reduced bacterial diversity in the gut and when it comes to the gut, the more types of good bugs, the better. (It’s time to get moving!)
4. Antibiotics
   Taking antibiotics can disrupt the delicate balance of bacteria in the gut, as it kills off microorganisms—the bad and the good.
5. Diet
   Diets low in fiber and high in sugar can have a negative impact on gut bacteria. While fiber feeds good bacteria, sugar feeds bad bacteria, yeast, and parasites. Additionally, excessive alcohol consumption can reduce the good bacteria in your gut.

Do any of these situations apply to you? Fortunately, there are a few things you can do. Lifestyle changes, like effective stress management and more exercise, and dietary modifications, including cutting back on sugar, are a place to start. In addition, a probiotic supplement can help support healthy and balanced intestinal flora by recolonizing the gut with good bacteria.* When choosing a quality probiotic, work with your healthcare practitioner to select one with identified strains at clinically proven doses.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
References:

1. University of Colorado Boulder. Gut Check: Exploring Your Microbiome. Coursera.https://www.coursera.org/learn/microbiome. Accessed August 19, 2016.
2. Konturek PC, Brzozowski T, Konturek SJ. Stress and the gut: pathophysiology, clinicalconsequences, diagnostic approach and treatment options. J Physiol Pharmacol. 2011;62(6):591-9.

Nowadays, detoxing is on everyone’s mind, especially when living in increasingly toxic environments and experiencing negative health effects.
If you think that a detox might be right for you, there’s a way to do it right and ensure you are safely achieving the results you are looking for.
Here are three easy tips to keep in mind to make the most out of your detox:

1. Do it at least twice a year.Your body is always detoxing—nonstop, 24/7—but it may not be doing it in the most efficient way because of nutrient deficiencies, stress, and even genetic factors. Based on my experience, I believe people can benefit from doing a dedicated detox protocol twice per year at the change of seasons (typically in March/April and in September/October). These types of detoxes will be a bit more rigorous than a gentle daily detox and should involve dietary changes, as well as the inclusion of specific supplements and some lifestyle changes. They may also be 10 days long for those who are relatively healthy or 28 days for individuals who require a more thorough inner “reset.” In addition to the biannual detoxes, I also think it is helpful to do some daily detoxing by eating your best, taking supportive nutrients, and reducing your stress to the best of our ability.
2. Ensure proper nutrient intake.There is a common misconception that a detox must be a stringent fasting regimen. Often, it is associated with intermittent or complete abstinence from food or the consumption of fresh juices in place of food. What many people do not realise is that proper detox is just the opposite—specific nutrients are required to effectively eliminate toxins.Most people, even when eating a healthy diet, undoubtedly have some degree of nutrient insufficiency or deficiency. The degree of detoxing required is limited by the required nutrient that is in the lowest amount. Therefore, it is essential to get a complex array of macro nutrients—like protein, carbohydrates, and fats—as well as vitamin and mineral co factors—not to mention the protective, antioxidant phytonutrients. Taking shortcuts to detox by not accounting for nutrition will only short-circuit your detox pathways, so it’s imperative that you are taking the right supplements in combination with a nutrient-dense diet.
3. Choose a safe detox.There are a variety of so-called detox methods available—everything from the extreme fasts to juice fasts to eating specific foods and taking certain supplements. With so much on the market, it seems like everyone has a detox program to tout. But they are not all equal, and some may not be adequately, scientifically formulated to provide appropriate nutritional support for your body’s metabolic detoxification pathways. Some may even be unhealthy and lead to negative symptoms.With that in mind, an appropriate detox may also provoke some changes in the body that could lead to subtle symptoms, like causing a bit more tiredness or discomfort from caffeine withdrawal. Unfortunately, many detox programs haven’t been researched extensively. Just last year, Drs. Klein and Kiat published a review of detox diets in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics.[i] Their findings suggest “there is very little evidence to support the use of these diets.”Fortunately, the Clear Change Program from Metagenics is based on researched protocols with actual human subjects. Some research studies on these protocols have even been published in the scientific literature.[ii] [iii] They are not only shown to be safe, but effective, too.

In summary, if you feel tempted to try out the latest detox program, keep this checklist in mind. It’s designed to help you know how often to do a detox, the importance of targeted nutrients, and, most of all, how to ensure your chosen detox is safe and based on good science.
[i]Klein AV, Kiat H. Detox diets for toxin elimination and weight management: a critical review of the evidence. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2015 Dec;28(6):675-86. doi: 10.1111/jhn.12286. Epub 2014 Dec 18.
[ii]Lamb JJ, Konda VR, Quig DW, Desai A, Minich DM, Bouillon L, Chang JL, Hsi A, Lerman RH, Kornberg J, Bland JS, Tripp ML. Altern Ther Health Med. 2011 Mar-Apr;17(2):36-44.
[iii]Bland JS, Barrager E, Reedy RG, Bland K. Altern Ther Health Med. 1995 Nov 1;1(5):62-71.

Dining out should be relaxing. But if you have a gluten sensitivity, a bit of skepticism should be on the menu. Typical recommendations, such as seeking a gluten-free menu and letting the server know about one’s dietary restrictions, may give the diner a false sense of assurance.

Here’s why—and how—gluten digestive enzymes can improve your dining experience.
Is the Gluten-Free Menu Really Enough?
First, consider economics. While awareness for the concerns of gluten-free customer is growing, the restaurant industry is challenged by slim margins and regular employee turnover. Further, appropriately accommodating these customers requires much more than simply stocking gluten-free breads and pastas. So, if a restaurant invests in the training and infrastructure to adequately support the needs of these customers, it will likely promote its efforts and will welcome questions.
Second, not all restaurants have a gluten-free menu, leaving the diner to navigate the standard menu. Unfortunately, it’s not a good idea to assume anything about the ingredients on any menu, especially those of chain restaurants, often the only option for a traveler.
Discerning gluten-free diners need to ask some very specific questions to determine the risk for gluten exposure from raw ingredients or cross-contamination. But will a well-meaning airport restaurant manager have the answers?
Some Questions to Determine Possible Gluten Exposure

• Does the kitchen have separate cookware and utensils, prep space, and a dedicated fryer and grill space for gluten-free items?
• Do the salad dressings, soups, marinades, or sauces contain flour, soy, or teriyaki sauce?
• Does the restaurant use imitation crabmeat (or other seafood) or mashed potatoes from a mix?
• Will any sautéed or fried item be first coated with flour?
• Has the oil in the deep fryer been used to cook breaded menu items?
• Will any dish be served with or have any gluten-containing garnishes? I.e., croutons, wontons, artificial bacon bits or crispy noodles on a salad or potato, fried onions on meats, or a cookie with dessert.

Adding to the complexity, likely dozens of employees have had contact with the raw ingredients, from the initial prepping of vegetables to the creation of sauces and the final preparation. Most ingredients of a single dish will change hands many times, likely over several days on multiple cutting boards and likely with various knives. This is simply the way restaurants work.
How Can the Right Enzymes Help?
Gluten-sensitive patients will always need to wear their detective hat when dining out. However, medical professionals can support them by recommending targeted support to break down hidden gluten enzymatically. But which gluten enzymes might help the most?

SpectraZyme Gluten Digest is a bacterially derived, clinically researched prolyl endoprotease (AN-PEP). It has many advantages over popular market offerings that feature exoprotease proteolytic enzymes, also known as didpeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-IV). In short, the AN-PEP is more effective in the low pH environment of the stomach with or without the other enzymes naturally present in the digestive tract.

SpectraZyme Gluten Digest is also a proline-specific endoprotease. This means it can specifically cleave the gluten and gluten peptides after any of the many proline residues, breaking down protein over the entire length of protein and peptide chains, not just at the ends. As a result, the enzyme breaks up the gluten more completely. So less hidden gluten will reach the duodenum

Gluten-sensitive individuals can’t avoid all gluten exposure. But, with SpectraZyme Gluten Digest, they can minimize their risk when dining away from home.

REFERENCES

• Gastroenterology. 2014;146(5):S – 545.
  
• Gut. 2008 Jan;57(1):25-32.
• Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2006 Oct;291(4):G621-9.
• J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Oct 5;53(20):7950-7

People either swoon or cringe when they hear the word “detox.” Those who stand behind it claim it gets rid of their symptoms—everything from brain fog to joint pain and fatigue—while others strongly assert there is no need to detox, and it is just marketing hype. Why such polarized views?

“Detox” used to mean many things, which may be part of the reason for the discrepancy. To some, it might simply be drinking lemon juice in water, sitting in a sauna, or maybe doing a juice fast. However, within Functional Medicine, detox has a specific definition: it is the process of reducing the body’s toxic load by lessening exposure to harmful chemicals we are taking in, while simultaneously implementing nutrition and lifestyle strategies to promote efficient elimination of toxins from the body1.

The first step of detoxification can be done, in part, by lessening the immune system load by removing reactive foods from the diet. The gold standard for this removal is the aptly named “elimination diet”, which is a simplified list of foods to eat and foods to exclude as part of a detox program.
Typically, common allergenic foods and beverages containing corn, soy, wheat/gluten, eggs, dairy, shellfish, and peanuts are omitted from the daily diet in conjunction with caffeine, sugar, alcohol, and red meat for 10 to 28 days, depending on the duration of the program. In scientific literature, using an elimination diet in various formats has historically been used to address various conditions2,3,4,5,6 with differing levels of success.

In Functional Medicine, the elimination diet is often used as the first line of therapy for immune and gastrointestinal issues since it can help with reducing toxic load and cooling down any immune reactivity to foods.

In conjunction with removal of foods, it’s best to take a complementary approach to bolstering the body with specific nutrients to help fortify its pathways of detoxification in the liver, so toxins can be easily removed. For example, it is well known that certain vitamins and minerals—like B vitamins and iron—are required to assist in the activity of these enzymes7.  Coupling nutrients together with an elimination diet (through their inclusion as whole, plant-based foods and as scientifically formulated dietary supplements) is perhaps the most robust protocol for a medical detoxification regimen.

In support of this approach, Lamb et al8. showed that a 4-week elimination diet?  together with nutrient supplementation ?  was helpful in reducing symptoms in women with fibromyalgia.

In conclusion, detox has a very specific and science-based definition within Functional Medicine.  In practice, Functional Medicine programs that modify dietary intake and supplement nutritional co-factors that support the body’s endogenous detoxification pathways can mitigate toxic burden to reduce incoming toxic exposures, and, at the same time, equip the body with nutrients known to support the body’s natural capacity to shuttle toxins out.

1 Institute for Functional Medicine. https://www.functionalmedicine.org/

2 Warners MJ, Vlieg-Boerstra BJ, Bredenoord AJ. Elimination and elemental diet therapy in eosinophilic oesophagitis. Best Pract Res Clin Gastroenterol. 2015 Oct;29(5):793-803.

3 Kim J, Kwon J, Noh G, Lee SS. The effects of elimination diet on nutritional status in subjects with atopic dermatitis. Nutr Res Pract. 2013 Dec;7(6):488-94.

4 Alpay K, Ertas M, Orhan EK, Ustay DK, Lieners C, Baykan B. Diet restriction in migraine, based on IgG against foods: a clinical double-blind, randomised, cross-over trial. Cephalalgia. 2010 Jul;30(7):829-37. doi: 10.1177/0333102410361404. Epub 2010 Mar 10.

5 Bunner AE, Agarwal U, Gonzales JF, Valente F, Barnard ND. Nutrition intervention for migraine: a randomized crossover trial. J Headache Pain. 2014 Oct 23;15:69. doi: 10.1186/1129-2377-15-69.

6 Pastorello EA, Stocchi L, Pravettoni V, Bigi A, Schilke ML, Incorvaia C, Zanussi C. Role of the elimination diet in adults with food allergy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1989 Oct;84(4 Pt 1):475-83.

7 Textbook of Functional Medicine. Institute for Functional Medicine. Gig Harbor, WA. 2006.

8 Lamb JJ, Konda VR, Quig DW, Desai A, Minich DM, Bouillon L, Chang JL, Hsi A, Lerman RH, Kornberg J, Bland JS, Tripp ML. . Altern Ther Health Med. 2011 Mar-Apr;17(2):36-44.