Evidence based, vetted and sourced information from my "go to" favorite source.
IS CANDIDA SYNDROME REAL?
Not only is it normal to have Candida in your gut; you apparently couldn’t get rid of it even if you wanted to. Give people powerful antifungal drugs, and you can drop levels down, but they pop right back up again as soon as you stop them. And, this whole concept of sugar feeds yeast; so, going on a low-sugar diet doesn’t make much sense—since, unless you’re lactose-intolerant or something, sugars should get absorbed high up in the small intestine, and never make it down into the colon.
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There does not appear to be good evidence that the so-called “Candida-syndrome” exists at all... The whole concept of Candida syndrome is officially derided by the American Academy of Allergy and Immunology as “speculative and unproven,” offering “no…proof…no…proof…no proof…no proof.” - READ MORE Michael Greger M.D.
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GUT DYSBIOSIS
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"...when we don’t eat enough whole plant foods, we are, in effect, starving our microbial selves. On traditional plant-based diets, like Dr. Burkitt described—lots of fiber, lots of short-chain fatty acids, and lots of protection from Western diseases like colon cancer. Whereas on a standard American diet, where we’re eating highly processed food, there’s nothing left over for our gut flora. Not only may this mean loss of beneficial microbial metabolites, but also a loss in beneficial microbes themselves. READ MORE Michael Greger M.D. -
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CULTURE SHOCK – Questioning the Efficacy and Safety of Probiotics (Excerpt)
...What about probiotic supplements? I’ve (Michael Greger M.D.) talked about the potential benefits, but there appears to be publication bias in the scientific literature about probiotics. This is something you see a lot with drug companies, where the sponsor, the supplement company paying for their own probiotic research, may not report negative results—not publish it, as if the study never happened. And so, ... doctors just see the positive studies.
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Using fancy statistical techniques, they estimated that as many as 20 unflattering studies were simply MIA. And, even in the studies that were published, even when the authors were directly sponsored by like some yogurt company, the conflicts of interest were very commonly “not reported.” READ MORE Michael Greger M.D.
BRISTOL STOOL SCALE
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Type 1: Looks like rabbit droppings. Separate hard lumps, like nuts; hard to pass.
Type 2: Looks like a bunch of grapes. Sausage-shaped, but lumpy.
Type 3: Looks like corn on the cob.
Type 4: Like a sausage or snake, smooth and soft.
Type 5: Looks like chicken nuggets. I don’t think I’ll be able to look at chicken nuggets quite the same way ever again.
Type 6: Looks like porridge; and…
Type 7: Looks like gravy. You got to love them Brits.- READ MORE Michael Greger M.D.
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HOW OUR GUT BACTERIA CAN USE EGGS TO ACCELERATE CANCER
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"...if we eat a lot of meat, poultry, fish, milk, cheese, eggs, we can foster the growth of bacteria that convert the choline and carnitine in these foods into TMA—trimethylamine, which can be oxidized into TMAO, and wreak havoc on our arteries, increasing our risk of heart attack, stroke, and death."... READ MORE - Michael Greger M.D.
HOW TO DEVELOP A HEALTHY GUT ECOSYSTEM
..."whether you’re young or old, male or female, smoker or non-, high blood pressure, low blood pressure, high cholesterol or low, having high levels of a toxic compound called TMAO—trimethylamine oxide—in your bloodstream is associated with a significantly higher risk of having a heart attack, stroke, or dying over a three-year period.
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..."“once we develop a plant-based [gut ecosystem], our bacteria will not [produce] TMAO,” even if we eat meat every once in a while. However, we still don’t know how rapidly gut bacteria shifts after a shift in our diet. But, it does not appear to be all or nothing."...
- READ MORE Michael Greger M.D. -
DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOUR DOCTOR KICKS THE HABIT
..."But, just like we don’t have to wait until our doctor stops smoking to quit ourselves, we don’t have to wait until our doctor takes a nutrition class, or cleans up their own diet, before choosing to eat healthier. No longer do doctors hold a professional monopoly on health information.
There’s been a democratization of knowledge. And so, until the system changes, we have to take personal responsibility for our own health; for our family’s health. We can’t wait until society catches up with the science again, because it’s a matter of life and death."...
READ MORE- Michael Greger M.D. -
GUT FEELINGS: PROBIOTICS AND MENTAL HEALTH
"We've known our mental state can affect our gut flora, but might our good bacteria be affecting our mental state?
This field of inquiry remained dormant for about a hundred years, but a new discipline has recently emerged known as enteric—meaning intestinal---neuroscience. Our enteric nervous system, the collection of nerves in our gut has been referred to as our "second brain given it's size, complexity and similarity. We've got as many nerves in our gut as in our spinal cord."... READ MORE - Michael Greger M.D. -
50 SHADES OF GREEN
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"Since both coronary heart disease and impotence can be reversed with a healthy diet, sexual dysfunction can be used as a motivator to change poor lifestyle habits."
READ MORE- Michael Greger M.D. -
SURVIVAL OF THE FIRMEST: Erectile Dysfunction
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"Erectile dysfunction and our #1 killer coronary artery disease are just two manifestations of the same disease: inflamed, clogged, and crippled arteries, regardless of which organ." -READ MORE Michael Greger M.D.
THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN MEDICINE
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"Even though the most widely accepted, well-established chronic disease practice guidelines uniformly call for lifestyle change as the first line of therapy, physicians often do not follow these guidelines. Yet, lifestyle interventions are often more effective in reducing heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and deaths from all causes than almost any other medical intervention" READ MORE - Michael Greger M.D.
ASPARTAME & THE BRAIN
In a review of the direct and indirect cellular effects of aspartame on the brain, it was noted that there are reports of aspartame causing neurological and behavioral disturbances in sensitive individuals, such as headaches, insomnia and seizures, but they go further and propose that excessive aspartame ingestion might be involved in the development of certain mental disorders and also in compromised learning and emotional functioning. They conclude that due to all the adverse effects caused by aspartame, it is suggested that serious further testing and research be undertaken to eliminate any and all controversies, to which someone wrote into the journal that there really is no controversy; aspartame really is potentially toxic stuff. READ MORE - Michael Greger M.D.