LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

GI tract

HIGH DOSE THERAPY EFFECTS THE QUALITY OF PATIENT’S LIFE – (08-28-06)

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Effects of high-dose sublingual immunotherapy on quality of life in patients with seasonal asthma: a pilot study

It’s funny that with the increasing amount of studies being done on this very safe and effective approach to allergies, that it’s still relatively unheard of. I’ve got a few docs in my area that I refer patients out to and the response is usually quite positive.

One thing I do love is that this therapy is actually looking at FIXING the problem, not just suppressing the immune response. About 2/3 of our immune system is centered around the GI tract and this immune group has the ability to turn up or turn down the immune response in the rest of the body.

So, give these immune cells a small amount of antigen, and there is a chance that they will send a signal out to the rest of the immune system that this molecule is “ok” and will tone down our response to that molecule.

Read entire article here

ARE CARBS EQUALLY CREATED? – (07-18-05)

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Rye Bread Enhances the Production and Plasma Concentration of Butyrate but Not the Plasma Concentrations of Glucose and Insulin in Pigs

Okay, so this is a pig study, but given what a large chunk of the US population eats….  Anyway, this study compared the effects on the GI tract and glycemic response of rye vs wheat and demonstrates beautifully that carbs are not all created equal.

Basically, the fiber in rye was much stronger at stimulating butyrate production (which leads to healthier GI tracts and less cancer risk) as well as a much lower glycemic response in the bloodstream.  However, this study used actual rye, not the highly processed “wheat bread disguised as rye” seen most often.

Read entire article here

STRESS HAS MAJOR NEGATIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS – (02-11-07)

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Phenotypic changes in colonocytes following acute stress or activation of mast cells in mice: implications for delayed epithelial barrier dysfunction

While this is a mouse study, the implications confirm what we already know–stress has major negative physiological effects.  This study found that there was an increase in the permeability of the GI tract under stress.  This would create a condition called “leaky gut” where molecules and proteins are getting absorbed into the body that were never supposed to make it in. Since blood flows directly from the GI tract to the liver, this then overburdens the liver and sets up a whole other set of issues.  Bottom line?  Stress kills.  Just in more ways then we used to think…  And it’s not a pretty death.

Read entire article here

RISK INVOLVED IN OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS – (01-15-07)

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Metabolic profiling reveals a contribution of gut microbiota to fatty liver phenotype in insulin-resistant mice

Another mouse study…this one finds that a high fat diet was converted by the bacteria in the gut in such a way as to increase the risk of liver damage and increase insulin resistance.  So how does this impact our GI tract when we are bombarded with nonessential antibiotics and the bacterial types that we have spent several hundred thousand years gettting acquainted with are not replaced?

The buzzword around antibiotic overuse is always antibiotic resistance, and this is, in reality, only a very small measure of the damage antibiotic overuse does to our physiology and risk of chronic diseases.

Read entire article here

DO PROBIOTICS KNOCK OUT RECURRENT URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS? – (02-04-08)

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Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections in Children

I honestly feel that the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in children is one of the most devastating things we are doing to screw up their health for a lifetime. SO MUCH occurs in the GI tract of a developing baby to determine the fate of the GI, immune, cardiovascular and neurological systems that we need to protect it and treat it like glass. Antibiotics destroy this delicate balance. One thing we don’t seem to understand as a medical approach is that destruction of normal, protective flora with antibiotics actually INCREASES the risk of future infections.

This study further confirms this, showing that “protective” antibiotics for urinary tract infections in children can increase the risk for antimicrobial resistance by 7.5 times! On the flip side, probiotics coupled with some pure cranberry juice (or d-mannose, the sugar in cranberry that does the work) will knock out most recurrent UTIs.

Read entire article here

SMALL MOLECULES THAT REGULATE LIFESPAN – XENOHORMESIS – (11-17-08)

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Small molecules that regulate lifespan: evidence for xenohormesis

The concept of xenohormesis is gaining ground quickly in the medical literature. Basically, there exists evidence that our bodes can sense cues from our environment (usually via the GI tract) that can prepare us for hardship. If there are environmental stressors (draught, disease, etc…) that are experienced by organisms lower on the food chain (plants, wild game, etc..), these organisms produce stressor compounds that will allow them to adapt to these more stressful environment.

Take a plant under draught conditions–this plant may produce protective chemicals to allow it to survive the draught. When a higher organism eats the lower organism these protective chemicals then trigger protective mechanisms in the higher organism. Sort of like sending the message of “danger” upstream. The ramifications of this are massive–tiny molecules that can change our physiology either positively or negatively. With this knowledge we have to rethink greatly the concept of free range animal products, organic produce, etc.

Read entire article here

Are we eating more than we think? Illegitimate signaling and xenohormesis as participants in the pathogenesis of obesity.

This editorial brings further to light the potentially drastic results of xenohormesis, to include damage from chronic stress, artificial sweeteners, abused livestock and chemically grown produce.

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STEAM COOKING SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES IN VITRO BILE ACID (02-23-09)

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Steam cooking significantly improves in vitro bile acid binding of collard greens, kale, mustard greens, broccoli, green bell pepper, and cabbage

This is an interesting study that look at how steam cooking effects the ability of certain foods to bind to bile acids. Remember that bile acids are produced by the liver from cholesterol and stored in the gallbladder until needed. When our body needs to make more bile acids, we use cholesterol from the liver, essentially lowering it’s potential circulation in the serum.

So, not only would the binding to bile acids remove this cholesterol from circulation, but these bile acids, if left alone in the GI tract, are irritating to the lining of the GI tract and can increase the risk of certain GI cancers (that’s one of those little gems they NEVER seem to tell patients who have their gallbladders removed…). So, these vegetables, when steamed, actually had a greater ability to bind the bile acids and have the dual effect on circulating cholesterol as well as protecting the GI tract.

Read entire article here