Not just medicinal absorption, but even mental health directly. I have an educated hunch that we’re going to find a lot of answers in the coming years about how our treatment and abuse of our gut flora (the widespread use of broad spectrum antibiotics, Western/high sugar diets) is responsible for some chronic illnesses.
Also garlic extract, curcumin and piperine (or bioperine), change how things are metabolized and processed in the liver. I take those and they amplify the effect of a medication I take, so I have to be extra careful with dosage.
I concur. The medication was in fact causing nasty side effects and I was able to cut the dosage in half. I may even be able to ween myself off it entirely once I find the right combination of natural alternatives.
I took a dose of acid so large that I had to curl up under my bed sheet for the two hours of the peak.
Once the peak left and I could again walk around and brave the sunlight, I realized I was ravenously hungry. I grabbed a grapefruit and began devouring it.
More than halfway through the fruit's succulent sectors, I felt overwhelmed again as if the peak had returned and had to seek darkness for another twenty minutes.
Most drug interactions are hard to detect. Do I notice if the amphetamine is hitting 15% harder or weaker than usual? Or if I'm focusing 15% better or worse? Not really. Feels arbitrary to try and measure it.
But re-crossing acid's threshold immediately after exiting it was the hard evidence I needed to believe in what always sounded like highschool folktale.
Most antibiotics & modern medicine kills gut flora. It seems gut flora have more to do with proper nutritional absorption preventing the need of drugs to begin with. Consider the termite's inability to digest wood when their gut flora is destroyed.
Sure but I'm getting at a different connection. In this particular study, where both groups are presumably taking antipsychotics, the probiotics might increase the effectiveness of the medicine they are already taking.
Long story, short - sensitivity to aspirin is problem that can be treated with exposure to aspirin in controlled setting to reduce extreme respiratory/allergy symptoms and continued daily aspirin afterwards for maintenance.
In the article, the woman is found to be allergic to NSAIDs. Meanwhile, others are prescribed Aspirin as a blood-thinner, to prevent recurrence of stroke.[0]
Yes but the treatment involved getting aspirin under a doctor's supervision to eliminate the sensitivity, unless I misremembered that. Prior to that she get sicker and sicker until she got pneumonia, and then a doctor who happened to be familiar with the aspirin syndrome from recent work elsewhere, suggested that as a diagnosis. Under the aspirin as therapeutic her life significantly improved.
My mother was diagnosed with bipolar and treated with lithium and other drugs for years before she was diagnosed with celiac, and autoimmune disease that centers around the small bowel. It was assumed that I would have this issue myself, and indeed I've had many times where my moods dominated my life. It never felt like 'me' to be depressed, or hyperactive, and I had a wide variety of other mood and neurological issues such as anxiety, confusion, constant fatigue and insomnia, along with a variety of unexplained groups of physical symptoms. So, obviously I turned out to have celiac disease too.
Now that I have stopped consuming gluten, the trigger for celiac, my moods are much more stable. When I inadvertently consume some, part of the reaction I have (which is days long) includes psychological symptoms. Now, in the absence of frequent gluten poisoning, these symptoms stand out.
However, with all this experience, I have no idea how my microbiome affects my mental health. The effects could easily be explained by the immune storm kicked off in my body by gluten. I also have little idea of how my health observations relate to normal people who don't have celiac. Probiotics don't seem to affect my sense of well-being.
There is a startup in Los Alamos focused on personal microbiomes. I'm thinking of getting analyzed: https://www.viome.com
Same experience. Bipolar relatives, volatile in childhood, diagnosed at 20, way more stable now since switching my diet. From severe diagnosed anxiety disorder to calm in one week after removing gluten from diet. Symptoms, especially self harm ideation , grandiosity and anxiety come back for exactly 48-72 hours when I ingest it and then subside. Life changing. Probiotics and other vitamins never made that much difference by comparison. Bipolar has many causes though. The only biological difference between those who self harm and those who don't is zinc deficiency.
I have found magnesium helps me, but I think just because I was deficient due to general nutritional deficiency (I can't really eat anything due to some digestive dysmotility). My legs were feeling weak and knees burning, and I was having problems getting decent sleep. Magnesium supplementation seemed to help with both.
As far as my other issues, and in the past when I ate food, celiac tends to result in malabsorption of many nutrients, which probably contributes to symptoms.
I started taking vitamin D (D3). I did so because of a family history of cancer et al. I had no expectation of a psychological effect.
Two days later, I was asking myself what the heck had changed. My mood seemed much more stable, even, comfortable.
The only thing that had changed, was the vitamin D.
Now, if/when I run out of it and don't get to the store for a few days, I notice my mood regressing. Particularly when I haven't recently gotten significant, direct skin sun exposure.
As for magnesium, more recently I read that, among other things, it helps with vitamin D absorption and/or utilization. This is not its only apparent benefit. And, unlike some other supplements, there appears to be direct observation of subjects/people to back up claims of these other benefits. I don't know about studies that elucidate the relative biochemical mechanisms.
Vitamin D improves my mood and also peripheral neuropathy (extremity tingling). I was probably fairly low on it from living in a sunless place and having celiac. Apparently, some of the effects like peripheral neuropathy in celiac are linked to poor absorption of vitamins due to the typical intestinal damage.
I feel like celiac has a much larger impact than probiotics, for me at least. Also, I have completely changed diets several times, which is said to dramatically influence gut flora variety, with little apparent impact. It is also possible that celiac indirectly acts by causing changes that affect bacteria growth.
Sorry about raining on your parade, but we don't even have validation studies to check if it is not snake oil, much less interventional ones that will tell you what to do with the information.
I cannot even say the quoted study is appropriate for evaluating the matter.
Reproduction please.
So, there was a book called GAPS-- Gut and Psychology Syndrome published in 2004, whose author claimed you can relieve some psychological disorders with her protocol designed to heal your gut and populate it with better flora. I don't think it is a cure-all, but there are thousands of Amazon reviews saying this changed their life.
I have ADHD, and had moderate success with it when I could stick with it...but the protocol is brutal. Absolutely brutal. With the added difficulty that I'm allergic to some of the staples of the diet. I've never been able to make it more than a couple weeks. The suggested duration is 18 months. Those who have stuck with it have reported good results.
I believe the GAPS diet is based on something called the "specific carbohydrate diet." Which, if I understand correctly is from the 1920s.
> The suggested duration is 18 months. Those who have stuck with it have reported good results.
Perhaps being able to stick to a "brutally" difficult task for 18 months is also highly correlated with already having good mental health, or a remission period?
I have often wondered something similar about these self-help books. I've tried a number of these diets over the years and they all have a thing in common: the diet is very if not outright impossible to follow.
When the diet fails to achieve its goals, inevitably, I blame myself.
Keeping in mind that I am not qualified to judge the medical efficacy of the diet-- the premise is to give your gut a chance to reboot and heal by taking away anything that is damaging, and providing nutrients to rebuild.
It starts as an elimination diet (the first few days you are only allowed bone broth, yogurt, and the juice of fermented vegetables). You'll be making all these things yourself, from organic ingredients if at all possible (is this necessary? Who knows).
There are 6 stages total, they gradually introduce more normal foods. You go from stocks, to vegertable soups, to boiled meats...
For me the difficulty was, going about my normnal day, and devoting several hours a day to cooking with a toddler to look after.
But I would suggest trying it if you're of a mind. I felt better almost immediately. My complexion changed, my mind changed. I felt like I was not at war with the world for the first time.
Infact, just talking about it Im considering starting it again. :)
The author seems to be anti-vaccine. Or at least, she suggests postponing child vaccination until age 4 or 5.
It's also worrisome that the FAQ has a section on "PARASITES & WORMS":
"Generally speaking, worms and other parasites are an inevitable part of life, everybody has them. In the majority of people they cause no symptoms and, unless they cause problems, there is no need to attack them. Worms may fulfill some useful functions in the body by controlling other microbes and stimulating immunity. For example, it has been discovered that some worms have a balancing effect on the immune system and may prevent autoimmunity."
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 74.5 ms ] threadhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641835/
Once the peak left and I could again walk around and brave the sunlight, I realized I was ravenously hungry. I grabbed a grapefruit and began devouring it.
More than halfway through the fruit's succulent sectors, I felt overwhelmed again as if the peak had returned and had to seek darkness for another twenty minutes.
Most drug interactions are hard to detect. Do I notice if the amphetamine is hitting 15% harder or weaker than usual? Or if I'm focusing 15% better or worse? Not really. Feels arbitrary to try and measure it.
But re-crossing acid's threshold immediately after exiting it was the hard evidence I needed to believe in what always sounded like highschool folktale.
After all, no one has an aspirin deficiency.
Long story, short - sensitivity to aspirin is problem that can be treated with exposure to aspirin in controlled setting to reduce extreme respiratory/allergy symptoms and continued daily aspirin afterwards for maintenance.
[0] https://www.healthline.com/health-news/aspirin-heart-attack-...
Now that I have stopped consuming gluten, the trigger for celiac, my moods are much more stable. When I inadvertently consume some, part of the reaction I have (which is days long) includes psychological symptoms. Now, in the absence of frequent gluten poisoning, these symptoms stand out.
However, with all this experience, I have no idea how my microbiome affects my mental health. The effects could easily be explained by the immune storm kicked off in my body by gluten. I also have little idea of how my health observations relate to normal people who don't have celiac. Probiotics don't seem to affect my sense of well-being.
There is a startup in Los Alamos focused on personal microbiomes. I'm thinking of getting analyzed: https://www.viome.com
As far as my other issues, and in the past when I ate food, celiac tends to result in malabsorption of many nutrients, which probably contributes to symptoms.
Two days later, I was asking myself what the heck had changed. My mood seemed much more stable, even, comfortable.
The only thing that had changed, was the vitamin D.
Now, if/when I run out of it and don't get to the store for a few days, I notice my mood regressing. Particularly when I haven't recently gotten significant, direct skin sun exposure.
As for magnesium, more recently I read that, among other things, it helps with vitamin D absorption and/or utilization. This is not its only apparent benefit. And, unlike some other supplements, there appears to be direct observation of subjects/people to back up claims of these other benefits. I don't know about studies that elucidate the relative biochemical mechanisms.
https://ubiome.com/ http://humanfoodproject.com/americangut/
UBiome is a Silicon-valley startup.
American Gut Project is a university research project out of Boulder, CO.
I cannot even say the quoted study is appropriate for evaluating the matter. Reproduction please.
I'm also waiting for a long term followup.
I have ADHD, and had moderate success with it when I could stick with it...but the protocol is brutal. Absolutely brutal. With the added difficulty that I'm allergic to some of the staples of the diet. I've never been able to make it more than a couple weeks. The suggested duration is 18 months. Those who have stuck with it have reported good results.
I believe the GAPS diet is based on something called the "specific carbohydrate diet." Which, if I understand correctly is from the 1920s.
Perhaps being able to stick to a "brutally" difficult task for 18 months is also highly correlated with already having good mental health, or a remission period?
When the diet fails to achieve its goals, inevitably, I blame myself.
It starts as an elimination diet (the first few days you are only allowed bone broth, yogurt, and the juice of fermented vegetables). You'll be making all these things yourself, from organic ingredients if at all possible (is this necessary? Who knows).
There are 6 stages total, they gradually introduce more normal foods. You go from stocks, to vegertable soups, to boiled meats...
There's a general summary here: http://www.gapsdiet.com/gaps-introduction-diet.html
For me the difficulty was, going about my normnal day, and devoting several hours a day to cooking with a toddler to look after.
But I would suggest trying it if you're of a mind. I felt better almost immediately. My complexion changed, my mind changed. I felt like I was not at war with the world for the first time.
Infact, just talking about it Im considering starting it again. :)
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
It's also worrisome that the FAQ has a section on "PARASITES & WORMS":
"Generally speaking, worms and other parasites are an inevitable part of life, everybody has them. In the majority of people they cause no symptoms and, unless they cause problems, there is no need to attack them. Worms may fulfill some useful functions in the body by controlling other microbes and stimulating immunity. For example, it has been discovered that some worms have a balancing effect on the immune system and may prevent autoimmunity."
https://experiencelife.com/article/healthy-gut-healthy-brain...