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Series Code: MH
Program Code: MH230009S
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00:01 We think of germs as dirty, disease causing agents
00:04 that need to be destroyed. 00:06 So the more something kills germs the better, right? 00:09 I mean, these things kill 99.9% of viruses and bacteria. 00:14 But is that really necessary? 00:15 Viruses are not just bad guys out there 00:18 that we need to destroy. 00:19 They're actually a part of who we are. 00:21 I'm Rise, your host, and I'm super excited about 00:24 our topic today. 00:25 It's going to remind you that you've got guts. 00:45 You may have heard that there are more microbes 00:48 that make up the human body than human cells. 00:50 It sounds like we're outnumbered. 00:52 But honestly, it's not an us and them scenario. 00:55 They are us. 00:56 Bacteria and fungi are not just something that grows on 00:58 old food, or can make drinking water unfit to drink, 01:01 or live on dirty hands. 01:03 They are a dynamic part of who we are. 01:06 Today, we're going to be honing in on the largest and most 01:09 influential community of microbes in the human body 01:12 located in the gut. 01:13 We call this community the gut microbiome or microbiota. 01:17 This community of microbes is definitely something 01:19 worth getting to know better. 01:21 But I think the most important thing about the 01:23 gut is that we have our microbiome. 01:24 We have all of our bugs in there that can be 01:29 really helpful, and then some that can be really damaging. 01:34 We have more bugs in the gut than we have cells in our body. 01:40 It's got to be important. 01:42 You know, we used to think it was primarily just bacteria, 01:45 but we're actually realizing there's even more things 01:48 in there than just bacteria. 01:49 There's viruses and there's even yeasts, and things like that. 01:54 Without a healthy microbiome, 01:57 a person just can't be healthy over all. 01:59 Everything starts with the gut. 02:02 You know, the gut is where all of our nutrition gets processed. 02:06 And you know, if our gut is not working properly, 02:10 then we start developing troubles in all areas. 02:14 And that's true for our chronic pain patients. 02:18 I have to agree with him. 02:19 So many things start with the gut. 02:22 The microbes that live in our gut are no idle bystander. 02:25 They seem to be involved in everything 02:27 and play a role in conditions like... 02:41 Now, if you think the digestive tract just digests food, 02:44 it's time to check out the bigger picture. 02:47 I think of the gut microbiome in almost every chronic 02:51 disease that I deal with. 02:53 And I deal a lot with cognitive decline, Alzheimer's, 02:57 heart disease, immune related issues, diabetes in particular. 03:03 So it's interesting how when we have a dysfunctional microbiome, 03:12 it basically cascades into every potential problem. 03:17 It's like saying, how can one thing be responsible 03:21 for so many problems. 03:22 Well, have you ever thought if you stop drinking water? 03:26 That could be responsible for a lot of problems. 03:29 Everything shuts down. 03:30 So the body needs functionality in all its fundamental operating 03:37 cores, and that includes the microbiome in a very large way. 03:42 Some people refer to the gut as the second brain. 03:47 And it's much like, the nervous system is like a tree. 03:53 I liken it, when I'm talking to my patients, to a tree 03:56 where you see the trunk of the tree. 03:58 That's like the central nervous system. 04:00 Then it branches out into the small branches and the leaves. 04:06 And that's like what's going on in the lungs 04:08 and the interrelationships going on there. 04:11 And then you have to root system. 04:13 I liken the root system, which can be larger than the 04:17 visible part of the tree, it extends deep and wide. 04:22 That root system is like the gut. 04:26 And we can't have a healthy tree, we can't have healthy 04:31 leaves, or healthy fruit from that tree unless 04:34 the root system is absorbing the optimal amount of nutrients 04:39 to take it to the rest of the tree. 04:41 So likewise, without a healthy gut, without a healthy 04:44 microbiome, and healthy bacteria, we are not going to 04:48 have a healthy brain, we're not going to have a healthy heart, 04:52 we're not going to have a healthy immune system. 04:55 The microbiome is also very closely tied 04:58 to our nervous system. 04:59 And where is pain processed? 05:01 The pain is processed in the brain, 05:03 it's processed in the spinal cord. 05:05 And when the nervous system is not working quite right 05:08 because of the microbiome, we run into trouble. 05:12 Well, the microbiome is amazing. 05:14 It's all the healthy bacteria, the millions of 05:19 cells in the gut that really aren't part of our body, 05:23 but they reside in our body with us, 05:26 but they are there for a very important reason 05:28 because they communicate with the rest of the body. 05:32 They communicate with the brain, interestingly enough. 05:36 They communicate with the immune system. 05:47 And that communication with the immune system 05:51 is determined by how healthy the bacteria are in the gut. 05:56 The microbiome determines the healthy of the immune system. 06:03 And through that process communicates through the 06:06 nervous system to the brain, and really to the entire body. 06:11 Every organ talks to each other. 06:14 They all are interconnected. 06:16 So if the gut is one of the biggest keys to 06:23 our immune system, then it's got to be one of the biggest 06:27 keys to overall health. 06:30 We know in medicine, at least most of us know, 06:33 that anything happening with the skin 06:37 frequently is caused in the gut. 06:39 That's where it starts, okay. 06:41 So eczema, psoriasis, all those kinds of things, 06:49 it's not so well talked about in straight dermatology, 06:54 but certainly in some of the more wholistic spheres 06:59 we talk about that. 07:00 If you can find the underlying cause for these things 07:03 in the gut, you can frequently clear up skin problems. 07:05 It all has to do with a lot of that, okay. 07:09 Not to say that's the complete cause, 07:12 but it certainly has something to do with that, yes. 07:16 There are some laboratory markers that we can 07:20 check to see if the microbiome is healthy. 07:24 But really, when it comes to my patients, 07:27 I can tell that they have a healthy microbiome 07:32 just by doing a physical exam on them. 07:34 When their hair looks healthy, when their nails look healthy, 07:38 when they have energy and they're not fatigued. 07:40 When their pain is reduced I can tell they have a 07:43 healthy microbiome. 07:44 Because the patients I see, I frequently do a 07:47 stool analysis, a gut test. 07:50 And you can actually see, depending on the microbiome, 07:54 that's the bugs in the gut, you either have good bugs, bad bugs. 07:59 Something is going on with that. 08:02 And the companies I'm using can actually look at that, 08:07 they can look at the ratios of the different bugs, 08:10 and they can predict, there's a page there that 08:12 they actually predict what these diseases you may come down with 08:15 because of microbiome. 08:17 So it's a huge evolving thing in medicine. 08:23 There was a time when people kind of looked at that 08:25 and said, "Nah, we don't believe it." 08:28 You know, there's certain things like leaky gut syndrome. 08:31 Ten years ago, if you said that, you were a total quack. 08:34 Now, even in mainstream medicine they're beginning to realize 08:37 that, yes, there is a leaky gut syndrome that occurs. 08:40 And a lot of people with health issues 08:42 have that as an underlying problem. 08:44 So if you're not addressing that, you're missing things. 08:48 Yeah, you can get better by certain drugs, 08:52 but you're not going to cure them. 08:53 You're not going to turn them around totally. 08:55 So the microbiome is huge. 08:58 Going, tripping through the vaginal canal at birth 09:01 also gives them certain microbiomes that 09:05 they're not getting otherwise if they're getting a C-section. 09:07 So that's part of the whole thing too. 09:10 I think it's important to pause here 09:12 to just emphasize what Dr. Shearer just brought up. 09:15 The birthing process and what an infant is fed the first years 09:19 of life has a lot to do with establishing 09:21 a healthy microbiome. 09:23 The baby is exposed to numerous bacteria as the journey is made 09:26 through the vaginal canal. 09:28 It's thought that this is when the baby's body is 09:31 largely seeded with microbes. 09:33 Then breast milk contains ingredients that are there 09:36 specifically to feed the gut bacteria, 09:39 which not only helps the baby digest food, but also 09:42 trains the immune system. 09:43 In case of C-section, this actually can be accomplished 09:47 by swabbing the baby with fluids from the mother's birth canal. 09:51 It's amazing to realize that how we are born, 09:54 what we're fed as infants, and early antibiotic exposure 09:58 can affect our health decades later, 10:01 influencing our risk of obesity and chronic disease. 10:06 Gut microbiome plays an important role in preventing 10:10 all the chronic conditions, including autoimmune diseases, 10:15 but also fatty liver disease. 10:17 Fatty liver disease is present in two-thirds 10:21 of the U.S. population. 10:23 And many people don't even know about it. 10:27 The gut microbiome plays an important role 10:30 because if the gut microbiome composition is right, 10:34 it will not allow the harmful substances to be produced 10:40 in excess and will not allow the extra fat 10:45 to be stored in the liver. 10:47 Unfortunately, the high fat diet leads to disruptions 10:51 in gut microbiome, and that eventually leads to 10:54 fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. 10:59 I'm so glad Dr. Kahleova brought up non-alcoholic 11:02 fatty liver disease. 11:04 There's a strong association between the gut microbiota 11:07 and the development of fatty liver. 11:10 Researchers have discovered that high fat, high sugar intake 11:13 has a direct hit on the liver, as the liver is the first stop 11:17 after it's absorbed from the digestive tract. 11:20 But a high fat, high sugar intake also affects the liver 11:23 in indirect ways. 11:25 Like how those nutrients impact the gut microbiota. 11:29 Eating this way results in higher levels 11:31 of endotoxins in the blood. 11:34 Now remember, endotoxins are toxins from within. 11:37 They are fragments of certain bacteria 11:39 that enter the bloodstream. 11:41 And these endotoxins are associated with fatty liver. 11:45 The point is that what is going on in the gut 11:48 is important to having a healthy liver. 11:50 And as you're about to see, it's also involved in how much 11:54 we weigh how well we manage blood glucose level, 11:57 level of inflammation, and much more. 12:02 And so, what lives in the gut is determined by nutrition. 12:09 And the nutrition of the gut, how healthy it is, 12:15 determines how well we manage illness and overall health. 12:20 The thing that affects what health the gut has 12:25 has to do with exercise, it has to do with nutrition. 12:29 And then that determines what the gut decides 12:33 to let into the body. 12:35 And what the gut decides to let into the body, 12:39 if you've heard of leaky gut, 12:41 then has these cascading reactions 12:46 to an inflammatory response, producing substances that 12:51 we may or may not want, which then leads to disease, 12:57 decreased health, decreased mitochondria function. 13:02 Now I'm fatigued. 13:03 And it all kind of begins with the gut. 13:07 And what fills our gut but food. 13:12 And so it becomes a huge, huge part of overall health. 13:18 And overall health has to do with our ability 13:21 to optimize our immune response. 13:26 So the gut microbiome definitely impacts brain health. 13:30 The gut microbiome is the gateway to health in general. 13:36 It is so funny that a set of cells, a set of organisms 13:41 that are actually not us outnumber us, 13:45 as far as human cells are concerned. 13:47 We are more bacteria and microbiome than we are human. 13:51 ~ It's remarkable. 13:53 That point actually speaks to the fact 13:55 of how important it is. 13:57 And microbiomes vary. 13:58 Complex microbiome that your body creates 14:02 as a result of its interaction with the environment. 14:05 And given that it's so important and the first thing in our body, 14:10 even skin, even eyes have microbiome, 14:14 that interaction, the first interaction with the environment 14:16 is through microbiome, you would guess that 14:18 that has become important in our existence and our health. 14:21 And it's true also for brain health. 14:24 One of the things that protects the blood-brain barrier 14:27 is short chain fatty acids, which are created by the microbiome. 14:33 And when the microbiome is altered with the food we eat, 14:37 or with toxins, or with antibiotics, 14:39 that affects that relationship. 14:42 We actually don't just hurt our GI system, 14:44 we don't just feel nauseous, or have an influence on our gut 14:49 interaction, but it actually also 14:51 over time affects our brain. 14:53 Because the short chain fatty acids are affected, 14:55 the chemicals that ultimately end up 14:57 in the brain are affected. 14:59 It affects our moods. 15:00 Anxiety is directly related to the food that you eat 15:02 and its interaction with microbiome. 15:05 So the microbiome should be taken seriously. 15:09 This is such great information. 15:12 Food affects the gut, which in turn affects the brain. 15:16 Dr. Sherzai mentioned short chain fatty acids. 15:19 You may be wondering, what are short chain fatty acids? 15:23 Well, they're a byproduct that gut bacteria produce. 15:26 And these have a number of important roles. 15:29 Now we just learned that one of them is to protect 15:32 the blood-brain barrier. 15:33 I mean, who knew? 15:35 The influence of this community of microbes 15:37 is not limited to the gut. 15:39 It actually interacts with distant areas in the human body 15:42 through its byproducts that the microbes produce 15:46 which end up entering the bloodstream. 15:49 There are a variety of byproducts. 15:51 Some good, some not so good. 15:53 Let's talk about a not so good one. 16:03 Meat is rich in a couple of nutrients that promote 16:06 TMAO production by the gut bacteria 16:09 with the help of the liver. 16:10 TMAO has been found to promote heart disease, 16:13 kidney disease, and type 2 diabetes. 16:16 In fact, people with higher levels of TMAO in their blood 16:20 may have more than twice the risk of heart attacks, 16:23 strokes, or other serious cardiovascular problems 16:27 compared with people who have lower levels. 16:30 Other studies have found links between high TMAO levels 16:34 and heart failure and chronic kidney disease. 16:37 People who don't eat red meat produce much less TMAO 16:41 than individuals who do. 16:42 Now what's interesting is that even when the vegetarians 16:46 were given steak, they didn't produce the TMAO. 16:49 And you may wonder, well, why? 16:51 Researchers are saying that this is because 16:53 the gut microbiota community is different in these two 16:57 population groups. 16:58 What strains of bacteria live in your gut is highly influenced 17:02 by what you consistently eat, not what is eaten 17:06 once in a while or rarely. 17:08 So if you eat a meat-based diet, the bacteria profile 17:11 is going to look different than someone who is eating 17:14 a heavy plant-based diet. 17:15 Does that make sense? 17:17 Now, when someone has cardiovascular disease 17:19 they are typically told to reduce their red meat. 17:22 And the benefit of reducing red meat intake encompasses 17:25 more than just the reduction of cholesterol, 17:28 fat, protein, or iron. 17:31 You're also changing up the bacterial community. 17:35 So the gut microbiome lives symbiotically 17:40 with the human digestive tract. 17:42 So we have trillions of bacteria in our gut 17:49 that actually benefit from what we eat, 17:55 but if we eat the wrong foods can actually harm us. 18:00 And there was this interesting study that was published in the 18:07 New England Journal of Medicine about that animal foods 18:12 seems to injure the blood vessels 18:15 via the interaction with the gut microbiome. 18:18 And they found that carnitine and lecithin 18:21 that are found in eggs, in milk, in cream, in liver, in fish, 18:27 shellfish, poultry, pork, duck, lamb, venison 18:31 can cause this trimethylamine N-oxide, 18:39 which causes vascular injury. 18:41 This is a compound. And not just the heart. 18:43 Because remember, we talk about the blood vessels. 18:46 This is a vascular issue. 18:48 It's the endothelial cells with interaction with gut bacteria 18:55 are being damaged by this compound. 18:59 And so, vascular disease has been found in... 19:06 Vascular disease has been produced by this TMAO. 19:10 Now they did a research when they took people 19:14 that were vegan, so never have eaten any meat for, 19:18 I don't know, maybe 20 years, I don't recall exactly all the 19:20 details, but they made them eat a steak during this trial. 19:25 And they tried to measure the TMAO, and they didn't have it. 19:30 It was like, wait a second. 19:32 Why these people didn't have it? 19:34 And it's because the people that don't eat these products, 19:37 these meats and this dairy, 19:40 they don't have this kind of bacteria. 19:42 So the food you eat basically, it reflects the kind of 19:49 bacteria you're going to have. 19:51 So if you want to have good bacteria that does not produce 19:54 this TMAO, which causes vascular injury 19:57 and it's actually part of the inflammation, 19:59 remember we talked about inflammation 20:01 and the plaque formation, this TMAO is part of that. 20:04 So if you don't want that TMAO in your blood, 20:07 you need to figure out how to eat and what to eat. 20:12 So thankfully, we have other markers of inflammation. 20:19 And there is, you know, I have requested these labs 20:24 to my patients that are really trying 20:27 to prevent a heart attack. 20:28 It's a really good way of looking at inflammation 20:32 into the cellular level. 20:34 And there is a lab called The Cleveland Heart Lab 20:38 that offers certain testing that actually can measure 20:45 your TMAO, it can measure some byproducts 20:50 of endothelial dysfunction, it can measure Apo B 20:54 which is actually more important than LDL, actually, 20:59 which is another lipoprotein, and CRP. 21:04 So what I do for patients that have a lot of risks, 21:07 I do more in detail testing. 21:10 But CRP, just high sensitivity CRP is a very simple 21:15 and very helpful marker because it can tell you 21:19 how inflamed your arteries are. 21:21 So don't just stop, you know, on your glucose. 21:25 There are urine tests that can show your inflammation. 21:28 So we talk about, you know, the leaky endothelium, remember. 21:33 And this endothelium, when it leaks, it leaks proteins. 21:38 And it leaks one of the proteins in our blood stream, albumin. 21:42 And we measure micro-albumin in the urine. 21:46 And if it's high, we know, uh-ho, this endothelium 21:49 is not working well. 21:50 You know, I recently learned about the coronary calcium score 21:54 which is another test that can be done that's thought to be a 21:56 better marker of the risk of a cardiovascular event. 22:00 I also read some research that found that when a plant-based 22:02 diet was adopted for eight weeks, TMAO levels plummeted. 22:07 And when the participants in the study 22:08 returned to a meat-based diet, TMAO levels increased. 22:13 The microbiome adapts to how we feed it. 22:16 We talked about inflammation in previous episodes. 22:19 It's an interesting connection between inflammation 22:22 and the gut microbiota as well. 22:24 Probably the most significant place where inflammation 22:27 can develop is from the gut. 22:30 And so if you are eating the wrong things, 22:33 you're creating inflammation based on the gut microbiome. 22:37 So let me give you an example. 22:38 So if you eat animal protein, then it actually goes in 22:45 and it feeds a certain type of bacteria, 22:47 that then its byproduct is TMAO, trimethylamine N-oxide. 22:53 TMAO, we now know, is directly related to inflammation, 22:58 especially inflammation that creates 23:00 cardiovascular disease risk. 23:02 And so now we have this really direct link between 23:06 animal protein and an unhealthy bug. 23:09 That unhealthy bug grows, produces this byproduct. 23:12 This byproduct creates inflammation and puts you at 23:15 risk for cardiovascular disease. 23:17 Man, direct link. 23:19 I mean, that's just one pathway that we've learned 23:22 fairly recently, that helps us understand the tremendous 23:27 importance of interaction of what we eat, how our 23:30 gut microbiome responds to that, and how that influences 23:34 our inflammation in general. 23:36 And I always tell people, like, I don't know how much 23:38 money in the bank, you were born with, as far as resilience 23:41 and the ability to bounce back. 23:43 Some of us were born with a billion dollars, 23:45 some people were born with ten dollars. 23:47 And I don't know how many insults your body is going to 23:49 be able to handle before it starts to break. 23:51 And I don't know exactly where your weak links are 23:54 in your family chain. 23:56 But for some people it's cardiovascular disease, 23:58 some people it's diabetes, some people it's autoimmune. 24:01 Some people, it's a combination, right. 24:03 And I don't know when your threshold and your resiliency 24:06 is going to be broken and you're going to move into this 24:09 dis-ease or disease process. 24:12 But what we want to do is we want to step away from that 24:14 border and do everything we can, all these layers in place 24:17 to keep you away from that edge, 24:19 regardless of where you started when you were born. 24:23 53% reduction in Alzheimer's risk with food? 24:28 Yet we sell vitamins on TV, which do zero. 24:32 Well, it doesn't do zero. 24:33 It makes some young man rich on an island 24:35 who's got the name. 24:37 But it doesn't do anything. 24:39 I don't want to name names, but none of those pills do anything. 24:42 ~ He's brunette, blue-eyes. - Yeah. 24:45 He's good looking, he's got a tan now on that island. 24:48 He's got a bank account, and all that. 24:49 He's doing well. 24:51 But we're not doing well. 24:53 Add greens. 24:55 It's not free, but it's close to free. 24:57 But people say that eating healthy is expensive. 25:01 Greens, beans. 25:05 Not subsidized, not supported. 25:07 - Brown rice. - Brown rice. 25:08 What else? You're the chef. 25:10 - Sweet potatoes. - Sweet potatoes, yes. 25:11 And mix those up twelve different ways. 25:13 It's incredible. That's medicine. 25:16 That's literally medicine. 25:17 53% reduction in dementia. 25:19 50% reduction in stroke. 25:22 700,000 people a year are left with stroke 25:25 in the United States alone 25:26 where half the body is paralyzed. 25:28 By the way, this is not blame. 25:29 This is not a sense of loss. It's a sense of gain. 25:33 We have the power by just educating ourselves 25:37 and others, and making things available. 25:40 Real estate is about location, location, location. 25:44 Public health is about awareness, resources, 25:47 awareness, resources. 25:48 And that's free. We can spread that message. 25:51 So we think it's an incredibly empowering message 25:54 to say that we've got to go in this direction 25:57 that will literally change healthcare overnight. 26:00 What has happened in general population or in social media 26:04 and others is, they've created all these gimmicks like 26:07 take these pills, and it's going to affect your microbiome. 26:09 And prebiotics and probiotics, and all that. 26:12 The only thing that's important, mostly, is prebiotics. 26:17 And what are those prebiotics? 26:20 Again, fiber, fiber, fiber. 26:23 And plants, plants, plants. 26:25 Because you're not forcing the issue by, 26:27 "No, here, you bacteria are going to be created by these 26:30 pills that I'm going to give you." 26:31 You're going to give it the fuel that by itself 26:35 creates the natural microbiome that starts from your mouth 26:38 all the way down to the lower gut. 26:42 In fact, the majority lives in the gut, in the large intestine. 26:46 And 60% of our poop is microbiomes that goes away 26:50 and then we recreate it. 26:52 So every meal recreates the microbiome, 26:55 recreates the environment that is a factory. 26:58 It's a pharmacy. 27:00 It's a pharmacy that creates so many chemicals in your body. 27:03 And if you're giving it the wrong food, 27:05 the wrong environment, the wrong chemicals 27:07 you're destroying the good factory and you're bringing an 27:10 artificial factory that creates tension, anxiety, stress, 27:14 brain damage. 27:15 Microbiome is important. 27:17 You don't have to rely on gimmicks. 27:19 Eat fiber, eat plants. 27:21 I think it's exciting and life transforming 27:24 that we have the ability to nurture and nourish 27:27 a healthy gut microbiome, which in turn will have a 27:30 life transforming affect upon you. 27:33 Don't just think this healthy stuff is for the lucky few. 27:37 No. You were made for health. |
Revised 2025-09-29