Probiotics, Cold Plunging, & Lab Testing

May 18, 2024

Bloating, gas, constipation, and food intolerances — you’ve probably experienced these symptoms before. In fact, a study evaluating gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in Americans found that out of 71,812 people, 61 percent reported GI problems in the last week. Experiencing gut health issues is nothing to take lightly, though…  

For example, “leaky gut” — an increase in intestinal permeability — can allow toxins, bacteria, and undigested food particles into the bloodstream, potentially causing inflammation and autoimmune reactions. Disruptions in the gut-brain axis may also contribute to conditions like anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. Additionally, malabsorption of nutrients in the gut can lead to deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. 

In this “Best of Gut Health” compilation episode, you’ll embark on a journey through the world of gut health with my top subject matter experts, getting the opportunity to explore alternatives to GLP-1 weight loss drugs and the latest in probiotics, uncovering the secrets of microbiome testing and its impact on your mood, gaining insights into the delicate balance of a child’s microbiome, unlocking the intricate link between eating disorders and gut health, delving into the power of cold thermogenesis in triggering fat loss, and much more!

Each of my guests offers a deep dive into gut health, bringing a unique perspective to the table. Dr. Coleen Cutcliffe emphasizes the role of specific bacteria in stimulating GLP-1 production and highlights the importance of a high-fiber diet in this process, which metabolizes into short-chain fatty acids, ultimately influencing insulin responses, blood sugar regulation, and food cravings. Meanwhile, Dr. Patrick Hanaway sheds light on microbiome testing, explaining the significance of individual biomarkers like calprotectin and pancreatic elastase in assessing gut health. He also touches on the impact of gut bacteria on mood and the emerging field of psychobiotics.

On the other hand, Raja Dhir discusses supporting children’s microbiome, stressing factors like breastfeeding and diet diversity in shaping an infant’s gut microbiome. Additionally, Dr. Lauryn Lax explores the concept of total gut reset, linking eating disorders to gut health and discussing strategies for managing conditions like constipation. Lastly, Joel Greene tackles the role of cold thermogenesis in weight loss, explaining its impact on fat loss and sharing tips for optimizing this process for better results.

With a wealth of expert perspectives, tips, biohacks, and more, this show is tailor-made for anyone experiencing gut health issues and searching for answers.

With that said, ready to finally heal your gut?

Best of Gut Health

Alternatives to GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs with Dr. Coleen Cutcliffe

The New Probiotic Strain That Allows You To Eat Carbs Again, How GLP-1 Peptide Actually Works And Why It’s Not Intended For Everyone, With Pendulum’s Colleen Cutcliffe.

-How to stimulate GLP-1 with specific forms of bacteria…04:29

• Ben wears a Freestyle Libre that measures the sugar in his blood
• Gut metabolism axis — the real metabolism of all of the food is happening in the gut microbiome
• A high-fiber diet is good 
• Fibers are metabolized into small molecules called short-chain fatty acids in the gut microbiome
• Butyrate — one of the most important of the molecules
  • Stimulates GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide) production
• GLP-1 influences insulin responses, blood sugar regulation, and food cravings
• GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic were designed for people with type 2 diabetes
  • More effectively metabolizes sugar in the blood
  • Lowers food cravings
• Semaglutide peptides
  • Designed for people who are unable to produce the right amount of GLP-1
  • Healthy people will experience side effects
• How does GLP-1 work?
  • When you eat, the microbiome digests the food 
  • GLP-1 orders the release of insulin to metabolize and clear the sugar out of the bloodstream 
  • GLP-1 then goes away
• How do GLP-1 drugs work?
  • Increases GLP-1 consistently
  • High levels of GLP-1 all the time
  • High insulin levels all the time (kind of like an induced chronic hyper-insulinemia)
• Under constant stimulation, insulin-producing beta cells become less responsive and reduce the effectiveness of the drugs
• Long-term use of GLP-1 drugs in healthy people hasn’t been studied
• Blood glucose disposal agents
• Metformin
• People who are obese and type 2 diabetics are low or entirely missing microbes that stimulate GLP-1
• Instead of taking GLP-1, allow the bacteria to naturally produce it
• Akkermansia muciniphila — the only bacterial strain ever shown to directly stimulate GLP-1
• Pendulum GLP-1 Probiotic (use code GREENFIELD to save 20%)
• Pendulum Akkermansia (use code GREENFIELD to save 20%)
• Diseases with low Akkermansia
  • Obesity
  • Type 1 and type 2 diabetes
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Inflammatory and immune diseases
• Pendulum GLP-1 Probiotic (use code GREENFIELD to save 20%)

Microbiome Testing with Dr. Patrick Hanaway

It All Starts With Your Gut: How Your Bacteria & Intestinal Inflammation Affect Your Mood, Health, Longevity & More!

-Microbiome testing…15:17

• Gi Effect® 3-Day Stool Panel by Genova Diagnostics
  • Detects most of the common parasites, yeast, bacteria, and inflammatory markers
  • Individual biomarkers like calprotectin and pancreatic elastase for looking at inflammation and digestion
  • Uses culture methodology and 16S probes
  • Shows the diversity but does not give all the details
  • Measures the metabolic byproducts of the bacteria
• The Gutbio test shows everything that is going on in the gut
  • Individual biomarkers looking at inflammation or digestion should be done separately
• Biomarkers like pancreatic elastase and calprotectin are the best for looking into microbiome health
• Joel Dudley
• There is some low-level inflammation in the microbiome that is not indicated by changes in inflammatory markers and C-reactive protein (CRP)
• Gut bacteria can affect mood
• Psychobiotics — probiotics and prebiotics that help the gut bacteria in treating depression, anxiety, and neurological disorders
• Every environmental input is related to or filtered through the gut microbiome which then sends signals to the brain

Children’s Microbiome with Raja Dhir

The Perfect Approach For A Child’s Healthy Gut, How To Help Your Body Make Its Own Natural Antidepressants, The Problem With Probiotics & More With Seed’s Raja Dhir.

-Supporting children’s microbiome…25:58

• Seed article: “5 Microbiome Myths, Busted in 2023”
• The most influence on an infant’s gut microbiome is:
  • Vaginal birth
  • Breastfeeding
  • No antibiotics
• An infant’s microbiome is dominated by Bifidobacterium infantis (B. infantis) until diversification by the introduction of food
• Seed Pediatric Daily Synbiotic (use code 25BEN to save 25% on your first purchase of Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic and PDS-08® Pediatric Daily Synbiotic)
• Seed Daily Synbiotic (use code 25BEN to save 25% on your first purchase of Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic and PDS-08® Pediatric Daily Synbiotic)
• Diversification process:
  • Carotenoids — a group of pigments found in plants, algae, and some bacteria — and N3 fatty acids as early as possible
  • Moms should be eating an incredibly diversified diet and carotenoids
  • Most pigments in vegetables are driven by something in the carotenoid family
• B. infantis does not allow pathogens to take hold
  • Metabolizes human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) — complex carbohydrates that are found in human breast milk
  • Trains the immune system to promote tolerance to conditions like allergies, asthma, and inflammation
  • Dominates the baby’s guts when exclusively breastfed
• A rich oligosaccharide diet should overpower any additional effects of HMO
• HMO food sources:
  • All rough plant matter (fiber), fruits, vegetables, and tubers have versions of HMOs
  • Carbohydrates from plants mostly have saccharides — organic compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms
• Seed article: “How Your Microbiome is Made — and How It Informs Your Lifelong Health”
• Adults need an extremely diverse portfolio of plant fiber
• The carnivore diet does not provide any oligosaccharides
  • Introduces a massive deficit to the host microbiota
  • Shifts the microbiome from a saccharolytic state (breaking down carbohydrates) to a proteolytic state (protein-degrading) 
• Dr. Steven Gundry
• Development of the gut and brain are closely connected — infant microbiome should be dominated with B. infantis by week 3 or 4
• Infants should be exclusively breastfed for at least 4 months
• Microbes teach the immune system tolerance
• Raja gave his son an inoculation of B. infantis at around 3 or 4 months
  • Raja works with and grows a lot of different strains
  • Took 2 or 3 strains of B. infantis and put it on the tip of his son’s tongue right before he was breastfed
• Food sources rich in carotenoids
• Fish oil
• Seed Pediatric Daily Synbiotic (use code 25BEN to save 25% on your first purchase of Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic and PDS-08® Pediatric Daily Synbiotic)
• Seed Daily Synbiotic (use code 25BEN to save 25% on your first purchase of Seed’s DS-01® Daily Synbiotic and PDS-08® Pediatric Daily Synbiotic)

Total Gut Reset with Dr. Lauryn Lax

Healing Your Gut (Finally), Why You Shouldn’t Freak Out About Food Labels, What Your Poop Can Tell You About Your Gut & More With Dr. Lauryn Lax

-Eating disorders creating gut disorders…36:47

-What you can learn from your poop…43:22

• The ideal poop schedule would be daily if not twice a day
  • Well-formed, complete, easy to pass
• Eating habits and stress levels contribute to different types of poop
• A megacolon is a toxic colon or just a very enlarged colon
• Any type of poop is better than no poop
• Ben does 12 to 16 hours of intermittent fasting
• Eating starch in the evening

-Coffee withdrawal constipation…57:03

• Coffee is a stimulant, natural dehydrator, and digestive bitter
• Stopping coffee can cause constipation
• Most people are underhydrated
• Gallbladder is supported by digestive bitters 
• Supporting the gallbladder can regulate poop
• Apple cider vinegar has some gallbladder-stimulating effects
• The importance of hydration
• What to do when constipated?
• The main cause of constipation:
  • Stress
  • Stressing the gallbladder
    • Birth control pills
    • Long-term use of drugs like SSRIs or Tylenol, Advil
    • Abdominal massage
• Power Plate

-Ben’s ad for his house…1:02:40

Cold Thermogenesis as an Effective Weight Loss Strategy with Joel Greene

Joel Greene Podcast Part 1: How To Reboot The Gut, Eat Cheesecake Without Gaining Weight, Amplify Any Fasting Protocol & Maximize Fat Loss.

-Cold exposure for fat loss…1:04:20

• Cold is a foundational toolset
  • Flips macrophages — a type of white blood cell that plays a crucial role in the immune system — from an inflammatory to a non-inflammatory state
  • Drives down Akkermansia (body needs more energy to survive in the cold)
• Akkermansia (use code GREENFIELD to save 20%)
• Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) induces a “futile cycle” in adipose mass
  • A starvation enzyme made by the liver — adapts the body to starvation
  • Potentiates both the release and the storage of fat mass
• Shrinking fat cells cause a regain of fat mass
• Cold is good strategically, but not as a permanent practice — avoid overdoing cold thermogenesis
• Hack to amplify cold thermogenesis: topical application of menthol where adipose mass is
• The Immunity Code by Joel Greene
• Combination therapy