February 25, 2019 The gut microbiome plays a large role in how we eat, from when we feel full to what foods we crave. Now that we understand some of the science behind the interaction between our guts and the microbes, scientists are seeing a link...
February 18, 2019 For more than a decade, scientists suspected that gut bacteria played a significant role in obesity. Recent research by Dr. Gerald Shulman and colleagues sheds some light on the connection to obesity and possible therapeutic interventions! The connection involves gut bacteria, the gut-brain axis,...
February 11, 2019 The intestine is an extremely complex organ. There are the muscle cells that control motility, the immune cells that protect against pathogens, the symbiotic microbes, and the enteric (or intestinal) nervous system that sends and receives signals from the brain. And then, there...
February 4, 2019 There is a highway for communication between the gut and the brain that allows messages to be sent in both directions. It’s called the gut-brain axis. A frequent sender of messages along the highway is the community of microbes in the gut. They...
January 28, 2019 The skin of red grapes contains a compound known as trans-Resveratrol, which has anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and anti-oxidant properties. Between these properties and research studies showing that trans-Resveratrol has a positive effect on the gut and on mental health, trans-Resveratrol might affect the gut-brain...
January 21, 2019 Herbs and spices, like ginger, turmeric, peppermint, fennel, aloe vera, and garlic, have been used to treat ailments for centuries. What we don’t know is how most of them work and how they compare to modern medicine. To answer that second question specifically...
January 14, 2019 Yes, you read correctly. There is now a blood test for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)! IBS is a diagnosis based on exclusion because there isn’t a way to test for it. Once other known diseases that cause similar symptoms are ruled out, a...
January 7, 2019 Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common functional GI disorder, particularly in women. Studies estimate that IBS affects 1 in 8 people worldwide, and approximately half of those people also manage other gastrointestinal (GI) issues like gastroesophageal reflex disease (GERD), diverticulitis, inflammatory...
December 17, 2018 Did you know there are over 25,000 different types of wheat that have been cultivated over the last 10,000 years all around the world? Scientists have been studying the most common types of wheat to determine if some are better for you than...
December 10, 2018 Can we make the leap from counting caloric intake to measuring nutritional intake to personalized nutritional guidelines? The answer is yes! We are well on our way to the era of precision nutrition. Currently, dietary recommendations are made for general populations of healthy...