Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Fatigue/Fibromyalgia
Joint Pain
Allergies
Digestive disturbances (bloating, gas, diarrhea,
constipation, heart burn)
Yeast infections/thrush
Mental fogginess
Auto-immune conditions
Eczema, Cystic Acne
Vitamin B Deficiency
Sugar cravings
Depression/anxiety
And More
The majority of the microbes that are present in our body actually
reside in the digestive tract. Therefore anything that we eat, the
microbes eat. By your everyday food choices you either choose to
promote growth of the good guys or the bad guys. A diet high in
sugar, carbohydrates and/or processed foods can be the most
detrimental because it fuels the bad guys such as Candida, a type of
yeast. By choosing foods such as vegetables, fiber, moderate protein,
quality fats and limiting simple carbohydrates, sugar and starchy foods
you can help fuel the growth of beneficial bacteria within the gut.
Testing
To determine if you have dysbiosis there are some different tests
available however the testing is different based on the location of the
potential dysbiosis. I will provide you with some of the types of testing
available for microbes but a knowledgeable practitioner should be
ordering these tests for you depending on your personal history,
presenting signs and symptoms, and diagnosis.
Types of testing for microbes
1. Testing the immune system (antibodies) to see if it has had prior
exposure to the microbe in question.
2. Checking to see if the microbe will grow from a sample taken from
the location of dysbiosis.
3. Genetic testing (PCR Testing) of a sample taken from the body to
search for and identify the presence of microbial DNA.
4. Metabolite testing of specific metabolic markers in the urine that
may be positive if microbial infection is present.
The most commonly order testing for dysbiosis in my office is of the GI
tract which can be completed with a CDSA (Comprehensive Digestive
Stool Analysis). It uses some of the technologies listed above to
determine what microbes are present with in your stool both good and
bad. This test is a great start to looking into your balance or imbalance
of gut microbes.
Treatment/Prevention Considerations
Treatment is two fold. First identify the bad guy(s) and address their
eradication if they are present as well as treat the immune dysfunction.
If bad guys are present then addressing their eradication is step one
of the treatment. This treatment can include antimicrobial medication
or herbs, dietary changes to stop fueling the bad guys and
repopulating the dysbiosis location with good microbes, such as occurs
with the consumption of probiotics.