Evolutionary Analysis Based On Shotgun Metagenomic Data Of Gut Microbiota
We employed the MIDAS to perform intestinal microbiota mutations annotation. Briefly, a reference genome database including 34 species with the abundance more than 0.1% was constructed. Then the shotgun metagenomic sequencing reads were mapped to the database for intestinal species SNP calling. An SNP was confirmed only when: i. the mutation was detected compared with the original base of the microbial genome at baseline ii. the mutation was detectable in the following two time points iii. the quantity score for each annotated SNP was more than 60. The SNPs profiles for these intestinal microbes were deposited in GitHub: .
Supporting Your Gut Microbiome
Inflammation can still be present even if youre taking the appropriate thyroid medications, as managing the inflammation can be separate from medicating with hormones. Thyroid medication may not address all of the causes of inflammation, Ruscio says.
In short, its possible to have strange and ongoing symptoms even after being treated for a thyroid condition.
Beyond not smoking, sleeping well, getting enough exercise, and managing stress, youll want to pay attention to your gut health, Ruscio says. The gut can also play a role in whether or not patients with thyroid disorders continue to experience inflammation and the symptoms that come with it.
Ruscio says, The gut can be a primary source of inflammation, because it houses the highest density of immune cells in the whole body.
There is increasing evidence that gut health and thyroid health are interconnected. A new study in Clinical Medicine & Research found that theres a link between celiac disease and thyroid disease. Another recent review in Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism asserts: An altered microbiota composition increases the prevalence of Hashimotos thyroiditis and Graves disease.
Beyond taking your thyroid medication, what can you do to support a healthy gut for your thyroid health?
The Autoimmune Protocol Diet
The Autoimmune Protocol Diet is designed for people with autoimmune diseases. It removes potentially harmful foods like grains, dairy, nightshades, added sugar, coffee, legumes, eggs, alcohol, nuts, seeds, refined sugars, oils, and food additives .
In a 10-week study in 16 women with Hashimotos disease, the AIP Diet led to significant improvements in quality of life scores and significantly decreased levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein .
Although these results are promising, larger longer duration studies are needed.
Keep in mind that the AIP Diet is a phased elimination diet and should be prescribed and monitored by an experienced healthcare provider.
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Why Probiotic Triple Therapy Is So Effective
At the end of the day, you want results. You want a probiotic protocol to reduce or eliminate whatever symptoms you are suffering from. As a doctor, I want this for you also, but I understand that we need to fix the underlying cause of your symptoms. So, instead of using a probiotic that is marketed for your symptom, we go a level deeper and use Probiotic Triple Therapy to ensure we support a balanced healthy gut environment.
This thorough probiotic therapy fixes the underlying cause of your symptoms and thus your symptoms resolve. The symptoms that improve after balancing your gut could be anything from digestive symptoms all the way through mood or metabolism. This probiotic protocol is not a cure all, but gut health is clearly a foundational aspect of wellbeing.
Important reminder, probiotics are not a get out of jail free card for an unhealthy diet and lifestyle. These both must be in place to see optimal response to any probiotic regime.
Best Probiotics For Leaky Gut
It is important to remember that research uses may different bacterial strains, combinations, and amounts of probiotic bacteria. When choosing a probiotic keep all of the following in mind:
- Diversity of strains
- Bifidobacterium longum
- Bifidobacterium brevo
These strains have been shown to improves the gut barrier function and attenuated bacterial and endotoxin translocation and protected the mucin lining in a review of the research article in Current Nutrition Food Science .
Zonulin occludins and claudin are proteins involved in the formation of tight junctions. They are also known as scaffolding proteins.
Clinical study on Bifidobacterium lactis
Bifidobacterium lactis has been found to improve digestive symptoms in people with minor digestive symptoms compared to placebo
The probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis found in fermented milk resulted in improved digestive symptoms and overall gastrointestinal health among women with digestive discomfort.
To further assess these results, a second clinical double-blind, controlled study was carried out among women with diagnosed GI conditions.
Two groups were assessed for weekly Probiotic fermented milk or controlled dairy product was consumed and digestive symptoms were assessed weekly over a 4 week period.
Findings from the second trial showed no significant difference in the percentage of women showing an improvement in GI health. Digestive symptoms were also significantly reduced when compared to the control group.
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How To Get The Most Healing From Your Supplements
As healthcare professionals, we know that adherence to a medication / supplement regimen can often be difficult.
Adherence studies have found that even when we know how to treat a condition perfectly well, in many cases when a product is recommended by a health care professional, it does not help the patient for a variety of reasons- most of them having to do with the lack of information the patient received.
There is an old doctors joke about a man who goes to the doctor and says the suppositories the doctor prescribed are not working for his constipation.
Puzzled, the doctor asks, How have you been using them?
The patient replies, Well, I swallow them, of course- what else would you do with them?
You can spend hundreds of dollars on really great products, but if you dont use them correctly , you might as well be throwing your money away!
Some medications and supplements cannot be absorbed in combination with other supplements or when food is present.
Others absorb better with food or other supplements.
Still others may need to be taken at different times of the day due to their propensity to cause tiredness or alertness.
Third Support Proper Immune System Modulation
Once adequate immune system support is in place, balancing immune system response is key. Three supplements that help modulate the immune system are immunoglobulins, probiotics, and vitamins A and E.
Supplementing with colostrum from cows or goats will provide a healthy dose of immunoglobulins, along with growth factors and lactoferrin. But for those with dairy sensitivities, colostrum may have an adverse impact on the immune system. In this case, serum-derived immunoglobulins are a safer option.
Probiotics, in general, are beneficial for the immune system. But there are specific probiotic species that are particularly effective for supporting immune modulation – L. casei, L. paracasei, L. rhamnosus, L. acidophilus, L. reuteri, L. brevis, B. bifidum.
When it comes to the fat-soluble vitamins, A and E, food sources like avocado, sunflower seeds, almonds, various vegetables, and organ meat are often safer than direct supplementation.
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Hows The State Of Your Thyroid
Have you been thinking about the importance of your thyroid? When done right, helping your thyroid can also help you:
- Heal your thyroid
- Boost your metabolism
- Help your energy levels
And you can do it all safely, starting today. Please, take a moment and try the Thyroid Quiz .
I hope it can help reveal the state of your thyroid, and the next steps you can take to help it right away.
Can Taking Probiotics Improve Thyroid Health
Many people with thyroid and autoimmune thyroid conditions are familiar with the health benefits of probiotics. And Im sure many people reading this are currently taking probiotics. But just as is the case with many other supplements, many people dont have a good understanding when it comes to different probiotic supplements. Many just choose a brand with multiple strains, but otherwise dont know if it is the right probiotic for them. So in this post I will discuss some of the different features of probiotic supplements, including some of the strains, the potency, and other factors.
Just so you have a better understanding of the classification of different probiotics, the genus is the first name of the bacterium. Two of the most well known genus are lactobacillus and bifidobacterium. The species is a bacteriums second name, such as acidophilus or bifidum. So lactobacillus acidophilus is one example of a species, while bifidobacterium bifidum is another example. However, what many people dont realize is that members of different species will typically have different strains. So for example, some probiotic supplements I have used included L. acidophilus LA-5, whereas others have included L. acidophilus LA-14.
What Are Some Of The Benefits Of Taking Probiotics?
Id like to discuss some of the benefits of taking a good quality probiotic. Probiotics can have many beneficial effects. Here are some of the different benefits that probiotics can provide:
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Building My Ultimate Supplement Guide
The reason I put together todays article is to give you a really clear picture of how I would recommend supplementing throughout the day. Its the ideal combination for those with Hashimotos, and the best way to ensure you are supplementing effectively and without worry.
Overall, heres what we talked about today and why it matters:
- Help your gut and blood sugar: RS Complete
- Lowering resistance to thyroid hormone: Thyro Balance
In general, when it comes to supplementation, the pills you take need to work for you. That means they need to be helpful for you, and helpful together.
These are all the nutrients I found to be the best documents when it came to making that difference for you. So, I put them together for that exact reason.
In addition, it was critical to get the right ones in the right amounts. That way, any of the common things you may find in other supplements stay out of the way.
Natural Vs Synthetic Treatments
There are both natural and synthetic options to balance the thyroid. We typically recommend natural thyroid supplements as part of an integrative approach to health, rather than starting with prescription medications.
The term synthetic thyroid treatments typically refers to levothyroxine synthesized T4 that looks and acts like the T4 made in your thyroid gland. To avoid confusion, know that levothyroxine is a thyroid medication, though some incorrectly call it a synthetic thyroid supplement.
What is the difference between natural and synthetic thyroid treatments? Synthetic thyroid treatments are man-made and must be prescribed by a doctor. Natural supplements are found in nature and may be taken without the advice of a physician .
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Inclusion And Exclusion Criteria
Studies were considered eligible if they met the following criteria: 1) investigating the gut microbiota and patients diagnosed with AITD. 2) providing sufficient data on the relationship between AITD and intestinal microbiota and could be extracted to analyze the 95% confidence interval . 3) written in English. 4) full-text availability. However, comments, animal model subjects, conference abstract, and reviews were excluded. We also excluded studies with incomplete outcome data on the percentages or relative abundance of gut microbiota and studies with fewer than 20 participants.
Ultra Biotic X100 Highlights & Benefits
Ultra Biotic X100 is a complementary blend of targeted and specific probiotics with one purpose:
To help augment weight loss by manipulating appetite, metabolism and intestinal microflora.
This probiotic contains well studied and specific strains of probiotics that have been clinically proven to help in these areas.
Is Ultra Biotic a miracle weight loss probiotic?
No, but it is designed to be used as part of a healthy weight loss regimen and designed to augment existing therapies, medications, supplements, exercise routines and dietary changes.
So what will Ultra Biotic do for you?
It may help in the following ways:
- Help Reduce Food Cravings & Control Appetite*
- Alter caloric breakdown and absorption by promoting the growth of healthy bacterial strains*
- Regulate metabolism, basal metabolic rate and resting energy expenditure*
- Help control and reduce the influence of fat storing hormones such as insulin and leptin*
- Lower systemic and local inflammation*
- Promote healing of the intestinal and epithelial lining in the GI tract*
- Improve Digestion and improve absorption of medications/supplements*
- Help regulate bowel movements*
Ultra Biotic was designed specifically to improve intestinal function and weight management in individuals with hormonal and metabolic problems.
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The Best Diet For Hashimoto’s Disease
Featured Recipe: Crispy Oven-Fried Fish Tacos
The relationship between food and health is crystal clear: a healthy diet may protect you from a number of illnesses and ailments. Likewise, a diet tailored to your individual needs when you’re diagnosed with a health condition may go a long way to helping you feel well, despite the illness.
That’s the case with Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder that attacks the thyroid gland. Here, learn more about the disease, its symptoms, possible treatments and what you can eat-and foods you should avoid-to feel your best.
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Hashimoto’s disease, also called Hashimoto thyroiditis or chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis, is a condition that causes the immune system to attack the thyroid gland. Over time these attacks damage the thyroid gland, rendering it no longer able to produce the hormones necessary for several bodily functions. This leads to hypothyroidism, or an underactive thyroid gland. Hashimoto’s is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States.
Symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease include fatigue, unexplained weight gain, constipation, sensitivity to cold, and dry skin. The disease is progressive, which means symptoms will get worse over time.
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- Lean proteins: Chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, tofu, beans and nuts deliver healthy proteins with minimal or no saturated fat.
Leaky Gut Symptoms And Progression
This leads to inflammation throughout your system and can cause symptoms, such as:
BloatingSkin issues like rosacea and acneDigestive problemsWeight gainSyndrome X
One of the biggest warning signs that you may have leaky gut can be that youre experiencing multiple food sensitivities. Partially digested protein and fat can seep through your intestinal lining making their way into your bloodstream which will cause an allergic response.
This allergic response doesnt mean youll break out in a rash all over your body, but it can lead to one of the symptoms Ive mentioned above. And, if left un-repaired can lead to more severe health issues like inflammatory bowel disease, IBS, arthritis, eczema,2 psoriasis,3 depression, anxiety, migraine headaches, muscle pain and chronic fatigue.
According to the Journal of Diabetes there is a strong body of evidence pointing to leaky gut as a major cause of autoimmune diseases including Type 1 Diabetes.4
Another problem with leaky gut is that it can cause malabsorption of vital minerals and nutrients including zinc, iron and vitamin B12.
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How To Tell If A Probiotic Is Working
1st Take stock of your symptoms
They might be fatigue and depression, or bloating, or joint pain, or constipation, or insomnia, or unstable dose of thyroid medication. Whatever they are, take stock of how often and how severe your symptoms are.
2nd Reevaluate these symptoms after 3-4 weeks of probiotic therapy
Are you improving? If so, keep on the protocol. You are not looking for complete resolution, per se. If so, that is great. But dont expect everything to be fixed completely at the 3-4 week mark. You are looking for a clear trend of improvement. If so, great, we are on the right track. Keep going.
3rd Look for when you hit your peak improvement
Once you peak or plateau, great. This is another milestone. Keep this constant for another four weeks, so your body can integrate and you can lock in this new balance.
After four weeks
Finally Try to gradually find the minimal effective dose
Technically, you dont have to do this but I find less is more with supplements. I like people to cut their dose in half, then reevaluate after 3-4 weeks. If this goes well, try coming off completely.
These are just rough guidelines, this is not that precise so dont stress yourself out. This is a simple process of gradually trying to wean off. If at some point your symptoms return, it means you should stay on the probiotics.
You can try weaning again in a few months. Simple. Dont overcomplicate this.
Here are a few scenarios of what dose weaning might look like.
Gut Problems Are Two To Ten Times More Likely Than Thyroid Problems
Misdiagnosis of thyroid conditions is sadly common . For a surprising number of patients, an incorrect thyroid diagnosis creates a needless distraction that gets in the way of identifying the true problem and resolving symptoms. Research confirms what we frequently see in the clinic:
- Gut conditions are much more common than hypothyroidism .
- Gut conditions are frequently underdiagnosed .
- Hypothyroidism is frequently over diagnosed .
An estimated 10-15% of people in the USA have IBS, but only about half of these cases have been diagnosed . In one survey of patients with GI complaints, 43.1% of subjects who met the Rome IV criteria for IBS had never been diagnosed . Beyond IBS, research suggests that nearly 40% of adults worldwide have a functional gastrointestinal disorder .
Compared to 10-40% of people with IBS or functional gastrointestinal disorders, only 4.6% of the US population is hypothyroid . One study showed up to 60% of patients may be taking thyroid hormone replacement unnecessarily [30
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Supplements That Can Balance Immunity
Selenium
Selenium is an essential nutrient for proper thyroid function. Individuals who have a selenium deficiency can experience decreased activity of GPXs, which can lead to oxidative damage. This oxidative damage has been linked to impaired thyroid activity. Also, low selenium concentration in the body can cause autoimmune processes in the thyroid gland4.
Additionally, one study revealed that selenium supplementation can even improve the efficacy of levothyroxine6. Chronic autoimmune thyroiditis patients who received LLLT in one study experienced an overall improvement in thyroid function. They also experienced a reduction in thyroid antiperoxidase antibody levels, and an increase in the thyroid parenchymal echogenicity as assessed by B-mode ultrasound7.
What is even more impressive is that LLLT could reduce inflammation in CAT patients, and possibly reduce the presence of thyroid antibodies, with no side effects.
The preliminary results of this study also indicated that as a result of the improved thyroid function, patients experienced a decreased need for levothyroxine, a reduction in TPOAb levels, and an increase in parenchymal echogenicity.
Another study that examined the link between LLLT and thyroid function also found that LLLT promotes reduced TPOAb-mediated autoimmunity, and increases thyroid echogenicity in patients with CAT hypothyroidism8.
