A Practical Approach to the New Year

Okay, let's face it. New Year's resolutions don't usually have a great success rate [1]. Somewhere around half of Americans make a resolution each year, but few resolutions actually become permanent changes. The most bothersome thing about this is that the vast majority of those resolutions are health related. It breaks my heart to see people fail to follow through with health goals, so I sincerely hope that this post gives you the tools you need to succeed this year.

Nikki's Top Ten Tips to New Year's Success

1. Recall your previous resolutions and what hindered your success in the past. Learn from your mistakes. Did your fitness goals fizzle when you got board with that 24 hour fitness membership? Perhaps dance lessons or a membership to a rock climbing studio would hold your interest longer. Did your dietary goals get tossed aside when your valentine got you that Costco-sized box of chocolates? Plan on bringing in unplanned goodies into the office to share instead of leaving that melding, tempting box at home.

2. Do your homework- Learn from other people's mistakes. Blogs are a fabulous tool to use in this day and age. People post an endless amount of wisdom and numerous stories on blogs and forums that are just waiting to be found. Better yet, find someone who has succeeded at what you are trying to accomplish and ask as many questions as you can.

3. Set realistic goals. This one sounds simple enough, but it's really not. I can't tell you how many times I discussed goals with my clients when I was a personal trainer. Time and time again I would hear "I need to lose 20 lbs in one week for a wedding/reunion/bathing suit season." I explained to these people that their goal was most likely not realistic given the time frame they had given me, but I would do everything in my power to help them achieve that goal as quickly and smoothly as possible. In this case a realistic time frame to lose 20 lbs is 1-2 months with the proper work out and dietary choices. After that initial faster weight loss period (generally the first month or two after making changes), expect 1-2 lbs per week.

4. Write your goals down and tell people about them. The more you talk about your goals and see them the more real they will become. Added bonus: Telling all your friends you've started a fitness routine will keep you accountable and they may even be inspired to take up a similar goal!

5. Set several small goals that can be achieved en route to your ultimate goal. This will help keep you motivated until you reach that big goal. It may be hard to focus on that distant goal after a while, but if you give yourself check-points along the way it will remind you that you are making progress. For example, let's say you want to lose 60 lbs by next New Year's Eve. Perhaps good sub-goals would be to lose 20 lbs by March (keep in mind the initial faster weight loss phase), 30 (half way) by May, and an even 50 by October. Now when you fall off the wagon and have a few too many cookies in April you won't think man, I've only lost 25 lbs.. I'm still so far away from my goal and I've already cheated. Ah well, better luck next year. Instead you can say Yeah, I have a way to go, but I achieved my first goal and am on target to reach my next goal a few weeks early if I stick with it and don't let this derail me!

6. Plan your route to success. Try to anticipate bumps along the road, and what you will do when you encounter them. Maybe you know ahead of time that barbeque is your culinary weakness and you're going to splurge on the 4th of July. Instead of letting that ruin your day, tell yourself ahead of time that you will do at least two things to further your health on that day. Maybe meditating in the morning and a 5k in the afternoon? Or maybe that barbeque chicken wouldn't be such a bad thing if you planned ahead and brought a few healthy side dishes to your 4th of July party. It's all about planning and off-setting any bumps in the road.

7. Plan rewards for when you achieve your goals. No, I'm not saying that losing 5 lbs is reason enough to binge drink and eat an entire Cold Stone cake, but you should be proud of your accomplishments and you should celebrate them. Make yourself some paleo walnut fudge [2] or some coconut avacado chocolate pudding (trust me, it's delicious) [3] for a treat when you reach a benchmark!

8. Picture your life after you achieve your goals. World class athletes have long known the benefits of visualizing success. I am a firm believer that you tend to move toward your dominant thoughts... So why not take advantage of that and think about success? I know it's hard to turn off the worrying autopilot in our brains, but you should, you can, and you must start using your mind for your own good. Meditation is a great way to start practicing this, but not entirely necessary. Whenever you get 5 minutes of down time just close your eyes and picture yourself when your goals are achieved. Who knew day dreaming was so practical!

9. Know that falling off the wagon is not only common, it's part of the learning process. Rather than being consumed with guilt when you inevitably stray from your planned path (see tip 6), use that energy to re-assess what your goal really means to you and what you have learned from the detour. Nothing in life is (or has to be) 100% all the time, and nobody is perfect. Tell yourself ahead of time that it's okay to deviate from the plan from time to time, but it's important to always move forward. Most importantly, don't be tempted to throw in the towel all together when you get steered off course (Well, I had a piece of Cake at the office party. Guess my diet is ruined! Might as well buy those Oreo's I've been craving for the last month!)

10. Involve friends and make it fun! Don't just jog in place with that big frown on your face- invest in a few Zumba tapes with some friends and make a schedule to go over to each others houses to use them. Don't turn that diet of yours into a month of eating salads alone at home- find a few healthy recipes and organize a healthy foods potluck with your friends and family. We are social creatures by nature, and what better way to socialize than over common goals!

Looking forward to a healthier 2013,

Nikki Cyr, D.C.

[1] http://www.statisticbrain.com/new-years-resolution-statistics/
[2] http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/04/recipe-chocolate-walnut-freezer-fudge.html
[3] http://mysanfranciscokitchen.com/coconut-chocolate-avocado-pudding/

Iron Deficiency Anemia

Anemia is a relatively common condition in which the blood's Oxygen carrying capacity has been compromised. This may be due to a loss of red blood cells, low Iron or hemoglobin, lack of B vitamins, or misshapen red blood cells as is seen in Sickle Cell Anemia.

The most common form of anemia both worldwide and in the United States is Iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Commonly seen in women, particularly those whom are pregnant, have a heavy menstrual period or are vegetarians, IDA is easily corrected by increasing your consumption of Iron. This is usually accomplished by taking a prescription Iron pill that I have nicknamed the Home Depot Special. I mean, have you ever cut one of those things open? It looks like someone took a chunk of Iron ore from the Home Depot, made it into a pill, and painted it red.

IDA seems like a simple enough condition with an even simpler cure: Take Iron. But after our last blog post where we discuss just how toxic inorganic Iron can be to the human body, it may leave our anemic readers a bit confused. On the one hand, you don't want to be anemic- without proper oxygenation of your tissues your body will be less able to build and repair itself and it will leave you feeling worn down. On the other hand, being the well-read, informed patient that you are, you probably don't want to take the Home Depot Special pills, either.

First we must ask the question, why is your Iron low in the first place? The many different causes of IDA require completely different treatments.

1. You lose a lot of blood. This is generally seen on a CBC as a high RDW value (above 15 on most labs). Perhaps you have a heavy menstral period because of a hormonal imbalance or PCOS, in which case addressing those conditions would correct the problem. Perhaps you have an internal bleed such as an ulcer, which would require a completely different work up and treatment than the above.

2. You don't eat enough Iron. Most people will tell you that this is seen in vegeterians, but I have found that vegan and vegeterian eaters can get along quite alright without extra protein and Iron. In my experience, this is more often due to just plain old unhealthy eating habits. There's not a whole lot of nutrients in Doritos last time I checked, guys. Stop fooling yourselves and eating that garbage.

3. You're not absorbing the Iron you are taking in. Honestly, I think this is by far the most common (perhaps in combination with number 2) reason people develop IDA. The big thing you need to know is that you need two things to digest and absorb Iron: Stomach acid (to break it down) and a healthy intestinal tract (to bring it into the body).

Low stomach acid, or hypochlorhydria, can be caused by a myriad of things including infection by a bacteria called H Pylori, or drugs that decrease stomach acid. For example, proton pump inhibitors (Prilosec, Omprezole) decrease the stomach cells' ability to make stomach acid. These drugs are used to treat ulcers, but all too often patients are left on these drugs for years after the ulcer has healed. Likewise, acid blockers such as Zantac and Pepsid have become increasingly popular and are often taken on a long term basis. These drugs are often advertised with the implication that you can now eat whatever you want without all those pesky unpleasant symptoms. I guess they forgot to mention the fact that those symptoms are just your body screaming please don't do this to me.. For Pete's sake put down the hot dog!!

Altering the state of the stomach's acidity not only leaves you vulnerable to nutrient deficiencies such as IDA, but it leaves the GI tract vulnerable to infection by opportunistic bugs like H Pylori. Because these drugs drastically alter your ability to digest your food properly (especially protein), food transit time through the stomach slows, allowing food to sit in the stomach for long periods of time and fester. This putrid food hanging out in the stomach longer than it's supposed to may produce symptoms of indigestion. Wait, wasn't that what we were trying to avoid in the first place?

Many, many things can cause malabsorption at the small intestine level. Celiac Disease, Crohn's Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, and Leaky Gut Syndrome have all been known to cause multiple nutrient deficiencies, and as you can imagine, their treatment involves far more than one little Iron pill. Another increasingly common reason for malabsorption in this country is due to malabsorptive surgery such as the gastric bypass. There are several various flavors of bariatric surgery, and they all have slightly different effects on the GI tract. For example, the gastric bypass mostly alters the stomach size, and therefore has the greatest impact on one's acid producing equipment. The Roux-en Y Gastric Bypass, on the other hand, is a procedure in which they actually bypass the first part of the small intestine all together. This sets the stage for great potential weight loss, but also for great potential nutritional consequences. Since about 90% of the vitamins and minerals in food are typically absorbed in that first, short portion of the small intestine, bypassing it severely handicaps that GI system for the rest of that persons life.

So what can we do to try to correct IDA without taking the Home Depot Special pills?

1. Stop to think, why am I anemic in the first place? Yes, getting to the root of the problem might be harder than simply popping a pill for the rest of your life, but it will be worth it. Really.

2. Stop with the acid blockers already! If this means going off a prescription medication communicate with your doctor, but be aware that they might think you've lost your mind. Your doctor should know that these medications were never meant for long term use, but if they give you a hard time just stick to your guns and explain why you are concerned.

3. Eat food that actually contains Iron. I know, it's a wild concept. And no, this does not mean that Iron fortified cereal is now a health food. I'm talking about real food that has real Iron- healthy meats, spinach, kale, chard and other green leafy veggies.

4. Even after all that if you are still Iron deficient (perhaps due to pregnancy), find a source of Iron supplementation that didn't come from a hardware store. I don't know of one off hand that is commercially available, but if you talk to someone in the supplement section of a Sprouts or a Whole Foods they should be able to help you. Functional medicine doctors such as myself often carry good quality Iron supplements in their office, but these products will only be available through the doctor's office.

Happy to be out of their box,

Nikki

Metals That Might Make You Mental

I've said it once. I've said it a million times. They haven't found a cure for Alzheimer's Disease because they don't know what causes Alzheimer's Disease. They don't know the cause of AD because there is no cause, per say. There are genes that make you more prone to the disease (such as ApoE), but there is no AD gene. There is no vitamin deficiency, toxicity, gene or one thing that causes AD. Instead, it appears that AD is a multifactorial disease that is caused by a different mix of things in each individual person. The only true cause that continues to have overwhelming evidence confirming it's role in causation of AD is inflammation... But that's where the multifactorial thing comes in. Weather it be a bad diet, head injury, drugs, infections, thoughts, toxins or autoimmunity, many things cause inflammation. Therefore, many things can contribute to one developing Alzheimer's Disease. The Alzhimer's Disease brain is a brain on fire, and research continually shows us that the fire starts many, many years before we see the smoke. There is no magic bullet to prevent Alzheimer's Disease; you just have to live a healthy life.

Everybody has heard of heavy metals. The bad guys of the periodic table, heavy metals such as mercury and lead have been associated with a wide range of diseases and disorders. But what about other metals? What about the metals we thought all along were good for us? In comes Iron (Fe) and Copper (Cu), two transition metals that may be new culprits in the AD puzzle and inflammation in general. But everybody knows we need iron to make hemoglobin, so having too much couldn't possibly be a bad thing, right? Wrong. The type of Iron or Copper dictates how it functions in the body, and having too much of the "bad" kind can wreak all sorts of havoc on the body.

Transition metals are unique because they exhibit two or more oxidant states (for example, Fe+2 and Fe+3). This is what makes able to participate in chemical reactions and makes them particularly useful in day to day bodily functions. This characteristic also makes them remarkably able to bind with stuff we don't want them to bind to and create free radicals. Free radicals like the hydroxyl ion are then able to scamper about the body binding to molecules and altering their function... This is the hallmark of inflammation- free radical damage that alters the body's normal molecules, and subsequently alters the function of those molecules.

For simplicity's sake, there are two basic types of metals: free metals (inorganic) and metals that are bound to other stuff (organic). Weather or not these metal ions are bound to a molecule (such as a protein) will affect how they are absorbed and processed by the body. Organic Copper and Iron compounds are absorbed a little slower by the intestinal tract, but more importantly they are processed differently than their inorganic brethren. Food Copper (and Iron) must go through additional processing in the liver before it is allowed into systemic circulation (the blood stream). Typically the body keeps most of it's Copper bound to proteins and keeps the more unstable, inflammatory free Copper to a minimum (5-15% total Cu in the blood). When inorganic Copper is absorbed it immediately contributes to the free Copper pool in the blood steam, bypassing the liver and increasing the risk of inorganic Copper induced oxidative stress [1]. Similar is true of Iron's story.

The proposed mechanisms of how inorganic Copper and Iron contribute to the inflammation in AD are numerous, but here are a few.

Copper has been shown to bind with homocysteine (an inflammatory molecule that is related to one's intake of B vitamins) and increase the oxidation of LDL- the so-called "bad" cholesterol [1, 2]. Cu, unlike Zinc, Nickel, Aluminum, or Cadmium, has been shown to compromise the stability of Ubiquitin. The Ubiquitin-Proteasome System (UPS.. haha) is the main pathway by which we eliminate misfolded proteins from our cells such as the notorious Beta Amyloid of Alzheimer's Disease and the Lewy bodies that are seen in Parkinson's Disease [5]. This may result in decreased clearance of these proteins in the brain, eventually leading to a build-up, cellular toxicity and death. Even the so-called AD gene may be related to Cu metabolism! The three different ApoE Alleles differ in the number of cysteine binding sites they posses- the part of the molecule that is able to bind to Copper. ApoE 2 has two binding sites, ApoE3 has one and ApoE 4 has none. This correlates with the risk of AD associated with each of those alleles (2 is protective against AD, 3 is neutral and 4 increases your risk). It has now been postulated that the risk associated with the ApoE alleles is due to ApoE 4's inability to bind and remove Copper from the brain [2].

Like Copper, Iron is necissary for human life, but an excess of inorganic Iron may be one of the inflammatory triggers in the AD cascade. Several studies have shown that Fe accumulates in Beta Amyloid plaques [3]. Not only that, but the presence of Iron during plaque formation not only increases the synthesis of Beta Amyloid by it's interaction with PACE, but it has been shown to favor the more toxic form of the plaques [4].

As in all things in life, your current inflammatory status will play a role in how you handle further stressors. Inflammation disrupts the blood brain barrier (BBB) and alters it's ability to regulate the transport of Fe to and from the brain [4]. HAMP, the gene that is responsible for the production of Hepcidin (THE Iron homeostasis hormone in our bodies) is directly influenced by inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1B and IL-6 [4]. Similarly, the mechanism I mentioned above of how Copper binds to homocysteine to produce inflammation would probably not be that big of a deal if you didn't have high homocysteine levels in the first place!

So what can we do to avoid the damage caused by inorganic Copper and Iron?

1. Decrease your inflammatory burden. I've said it once. I've said it a thousand times. This is highly individual, since no two of us have the same health problems. Weather it be being overweight, not exercising, a crappy diet, diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, an autoimmune disease, or whathaveyou, get healthier. If you're not inflamed it appears that these pesky metals won't hurt you as much.

2. Avoid inorganic Copper and Iron. Brewer et al [1] and several others have identified the two major sources of inorganic Copper and Iron as being Copper in our drinking water from Copper pluming and multivitamins (like Centrum). Interestingly, Brewer et al [2] points out in his paper that all of the industrialized countries are dealing with increased rates of AD- Except Japan. This is noteworthy, because Japan is the only industrialized country that does not use Copper pluming. In contrast, about 85% of US homes have Copper pluming [2]. Here's what you can do to minimize the amount of Copper that leaches into your water and avoid inorganic Copper and Iron:
     A. Filter your water. Brita.com does state that their filters filter Copper, but I can not say to what extent. Reverse osmosis is the best at
     filtering things like Cu and Fe, but is more expensive.
     B. Do not get hot water from the tap- Hot water will leach more Cu from the pipes than cold water- Warm the water after it comes out of the
     faucet.
     C. Check the acidity of your water. The more acidic your water, the more it will etch the Copper pipes.
     D. Avoid multivitamins like Centrum. They look like a big ol' piece of metal that they painted red anyway, so who are we fooling when we
     take those? There is no substitute for the vitamins and minerals you get from a healthy diet. Period.

 3. Zinc has been shown to lower levels of free Copper in the blood [2], so making sure you have adequate Zinc levels may be a good idea if you think you're at risk of ingesting too much Copper (perhaps people who have really acidic water at home and can not afford to install a reverse osmosis system).

Healthfully yours,

Nikki

References:
[1] Brewer, G. Risks of Copper and Iron Toxicity during Aging in Humans. Chem Res Toxicol 2010, 23, 319-326 (PMID 19968254)
[2] Brewer, G. Copper Toxicity in Alzheimer's Disease: Cognitive Loss from Ingestion of Inorganic Copper. J of trace elements in medicine and biology 26 (2012) 89-92. (PMID 22673823)
[3] Batista-Nascimento, L. et al. Iron and Neurodegeneration: From Cellular Homeostasis to Disease. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, May 2012 (PMID 22701145)
[4] Mesquita, S. et al. Modulation of Iron Metabolism in Aging in Alzheimer's Disease: Relevance of the Choroid Plexus. Frontiers in Cellular Neurosci. May 2012 (PMID 22661928)
[5] Arnesano, F. et al. Copper-Triggered Addregation of Ubiquitin. PLoS ONE 2009 Sept 16; 4(9) e7052 (PMID 19756145)

When in Rome

.... DON'T eat what the Romans eat. Unless by Rome you mean Greece or another part of the world that still eats real food. But if by Rome you meant anywhere in the continental US, save yourself the inflammation and bring your own healthy food.

I always bring food with me when I travel. I can't afford to be stranded in the world without my food. What they eat scares me!

Case in point: gas stations. They always manage to have all the scariest edible food like substances *shiver*. Take Michael Pollan's advise: "don't fuel up at the same place your car does"!

In route to great things,

Nikki

Coping with the Inflammatory Aftermath of Halloween

Halloween has come and gone yet again, and once more I was left with a moral dilemma: How can I teach people to eat healthy and NOT eat candy and yet give out candy on Halloween? To me that's almost as bad as telling people to not do drugs and handing out little baggies of crack at my door once a year. I had to find a way to participate in the holiday without contributing to the inflammatory tradition.

I tried thinking of something else to give kids. Pennies? Stickers? Surely my house would be egged. Mike ended up getting us little baggies of trail mix and peanuts to give out, which made me feel a lot better. But despite our best efforts thousands of kids are going home tonight with a bag full of candy. So what can we do as health-conscious Americans to off-set some of that inflammation?

Dentists across the country buy Halloween candy from kids and send it to troops over-seas. What a great way to encourage your kids to give-up their precious candy stash! Granted, it's still not healthy for anyone to be eating that candy, but at least solders have a higher metabolic rate than most children. Sure, they'll have to worry about the inflammation now, but at least that candy won't contribute to the all too real threat of childhood obesity we now face. To find a participating dentist near you check out this site.

Wishing you a cavity-free Halloween,

Nikki

Reference:
http://www.halloweencandybuyback.com/

A Note on Choosing Supplements

I recently went to a health talk that my supervising doctor put on at Arizona State University, and one of the attendees brought up this great question. How do you find good quality supplements? I mean, if you walk into a Whole Foods or a Sprouts these days it's like the bread isle on crack. There's 8,000 companies offering 9,000 products, all the while claiming that theirs is the best. But how do you know you're getting what you paid for? Or more importantly, how do you know if you're paying for something you really didn't want?

Functional Medicine practitioners such as myself work with pharmaceutical grade supplements from many different companies. Such companies only sell their products to licensed healthcare professionals. To you out there in the world who just wants some vitamins this may be annoying, but believe me when I tell you it is for your own good. When they say pharmaceutical grade they really mean it... which means two things. On the one hand, you can have a great therapeutic (positive) effect with these supplements. On the other hand, you can do a lot of damage with them if you take them inappropriately... I know- I've made myself sick stimulating the wrong pathway a time or two and I've heard friends' stories after they've done the same. If these products got into the hands of the general public who doesn't know how to use them properly a lot of people would be in a whole world of hurt. I'm not saying that non-pharmaceutical grade supplements aren't effective... Just perhaps not as effective as what we in FM use. The other plus side to going to a doctor for your supplements is that they will run tests (blood, urine, saliva) to ensure that you are taking the right thing.

For those of you who don't want to go to a doctor, there is a more reasonable way to find good quality supplements. Consumer labs is a third party company that tests and reviews different supplements. There is a small subscription fee that goes toward funding the tests that they run, and it is well worth the fee. Not only do they test the supplements for what they claim to contain, but they test for contaminants. For example, their review of vitamin D supplements revealed two products that were contaminated with Lead [1]!

Stay healthy,

Nikki


References:
[1] https://www.consumerlab.com/reviews/vitamin-d-supplements-review/vitamin_d/

Healing the Gut

Yes, my dear followers, there is life after leaky gut syndrome. I recommend doing this protocol while doing an elimination diet. Oftentimes, people say "they went gluten free but didn't feel better", and often times it is because they either were not 100% gluten free OR their gut never got the opportunity to fully recover. In this blog post I am going to give you the tools you need to heal your gut, but I must preface this with a warning: 
                                                                                above all else listen to your body!

While these things work great for most of the cases I have encountered, no two people are alike. I have met people who made their gut problems temporarily worse doing one or more of these things. The key, as with anything in life, is to listen to your body. If something makes you feel worse stop doing it. Furthermore, if one of these things doesn't agree with your body it's a good indication that you should get checked out by a doctor and managed by them rather than a blog. Without proper testing you simply don't know for sure what is going on inside your body, but it has been my personal experience that these things work for most people. For example, some critters like candida actually use glutamine as a substrate for growth, and thus may be exacerbated with supplementation.

The trouble is that you can't walk into a normal doctors office and ask them to help you with your leaky gut. As with much of what I talk about on this blog, 95% of doctors won't know 95% of what you now know, so they will most likely tell you to go home and eat gluten because it's all in your head. Finding a doctor who knows what we know can be a little cumbersome, but it is absolutely crucial if you want to get results and feel better.

If you think your case merits individual management I recommend you do the following:
Go to http://carrickinstitute.org/ and contact them to find a Chiropractic Neurologist near you. This link used to provide a search feature, but the website is currently down. While on the phone, tell the person you specifically would like to find someone who is versed in Functional Medicine as well as neurology. If the people at the institute can not provide this additional information, do not be bashful about calling the individual offices and asking if they do functional medicine, too. You can also try a simple google map search of the phrases "functional medicine" or "functional neurology", but it will not be as effective. There are different flavors of doctors who practice functional medicine, and the flavor dictates the type of treatment they will use. Some doctors are really into heavy metal testing and chelation, which for reasons that will be made apparent in another blog post I do NOT recommend. MDs using functional medicine are good, but may tend toward the use of more pharmaceuticals than many would prefer. The nice thing about going to a DC who does this stuff is that they can not prescribe medications so that route generally is a last resort, in which case they will refer you to an MD. Call me old school, but I think drugs and surgery should be the last resort treatment. Not only that, but finding a DC through the neurology program ensures that the chiropractor will tailor your treatment to what is best for your brain as well as your spine.

Another point I have to make about going to see a doctor and being managed professionally is the quality of supplements you will get. Don't get me wrong, I have gone to Whole Paycheck many times when I am too impatient to wait for my regular supplements to come in... but often times they are not the same. Yes, vitamin D is available at every drug store, but is it a good quality product that you will be able to absorb and use? Many of the supplements doctors like me work with go to great lengths to test their products and ensure that they are optimally absorbed. For example, many of the Apex products I use have been emulsified with things that have been shown in the research to enhance absorption and effectiveness. These products are only available through licensed healthcare professionals, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the down side, it means that these products are not widely available to the public, and it requires people to work with (and pay) a doctor. The blessing side of the story is that these products are strong and not to be taken lightly. I have personally seen what pharmaceutical grade supplements are capable of when they are taken willy-nilly (by myself or other people who still have at least half a clue), so I would hate to see this stuff get into the hands of the general public who doesn't know exactly what they are doing.

Now, let's talk about what you can do today to get that leaky gut of yours back under control!

The "4 R Gut Program" is something that is easily googled, so I won't spend too much time on it... But here's the scoop: the four Rs are in order of importance and the order you should do them in.
Remove the stuff that's causing the problem. This may be a food, a critter, stress, alcohol, or a drug!
Replace the stuff your body should be making, at least for the time being. This may include digestive enzymes such as pancreatic enzymes or stomach acid in the form of Beatine HCl! You need all these things to properly break down your food.
Reinoculate, which is a fancy word for "recolonize your gut with good bugs"... i.e. take a probiotic!
Repair. Help speed up your gut's repair processes by taking supplements such as these and you'll be on your way to a healthy functioning gut in no time!

1. Vitamin D is not only great for your immune system, but it has been shown to increase the expression of tight junction proteins in the gut, which helps to repair the "leaks" between cells [1]
2. L-Glutamine is an amino acid that is preferentially used by the gut epithelial cells as fuel and may not only aid in repair, but prove to be protective to future epithelial damage [2]
3. Herbs that soothe and coat the gut such as licorice root, slippery elm and marshmallow root will help protect the gut while it heals.
4. Antioxidants such as omega-3s, curcumin and resveratrol will help get rid of any residual inflammation that the other Rs and supplements could not tackle.

Less leaky every day,

Nikki

References:
[1] Kong, J. Novel role of the vitamin D receptor in maintaining the integrity of the intestinal mucosal barrier. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2008 Jan; 294(1):G208 (PMID 17962355)
[2] Iizuka, Masahiro. Wound healing of intestinal epithelial cells. World J Gastroenterol 2011 May 7;17(17):2161-2171 (PMID 21633524)