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Foods That Promote The Microbiome El Paso, TX. | Call: 915-850-0900 or 915-412-6677 | Neuropathy "The Painful Enigma" | Scoop.it

From www.dralexjimenez.com - August 22, 2019 8:29 PM

You Are What You Eat

The phrase, “You are what you eat” implies that the way we are defines us as the food we all consumed. However, our gut tells us otherwise as the food we eat, may, in fact, be leading us to obesity. Our gut plays a role in our overall health, when we eat good food our gut is happy and when we eat bad food our gut will tell us by fighting off the bad food. A recent study showed us that the bacteria in our gut produce amyloid and lipopolysaccharides.

These two microbiomes seem to show us that together, with proper dieting that these microbiomes can prevent Alzheimer’s Disease. As the microbiomes and the bacteria that co-exist in our gut, there are the two most predominant groups that have also played a key role in our lifestyle: gram-positive Firmicutes and gram-negative Bacteroidetes- both play a huge role in obesity. Firmicutes are bad bacteria that lead us to obesity. When we eat processed food and sugars, our body starts to crave it more, thus leading us to be overweight.

Junk Food

When we eat junk food, all that sugar and fat are feeding the Firmicutes. Firmicutes thrive on sugar since our bodies need it and it can be both good or bad While Bacteroidetes are the good bacteria that leads us to a healthy gut. Bacteroidetes are in the stomach regions as well as the Firmicutes. These two predominant bacteria groups tell us that the food we eat can actually affect our bodies when we eat bad foods or good foods.

However, Dr. Kristen Senella mentioned that we all have a different balance of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes since we are all different shapes and sizes. Depending on our health and food lifestyle, we can have either a low Firmicutes and a high Bacteroidetes or a high Firmicutes and a low Bacteroidetes. Plus, having either a high or low count of Firmicutes can lead to weight gain or weight loss; depending on which healthy lifestyle and exercise regime you are following.

Gram-Positive

Gram-positive bacteria will appear blue or violet, while gram-negative bacteria will appear red or pink under the microscope. When studying the gut and the bacteria groups that it is hosting, scientist use mice to study how their guts react to different diets they are put through so that way we, as humans, can take either pills to help our bodies maintain a healthy lifestyle or to read and do our own research. One group is fed in a healthy lifestyle and doesn’t experience diseases or ailments that we face. And the other group is fed with a bad lifestyle where they are prone to many of the diseases and fatigue as their life span is shortened very quickly. In order for us to actually maintain a healthy lifestyle and importantly feel good is to make sure our Firmicutes are not too dangerously low, but we can control it with probiotics.

Probiotics

Probiotics can vary from yogurt, fermented vegetables, kombucha, and miso. But there are certain companies that also reign supreme in the probiotic market. Activia yogurt and Yakult are two of the most well-known companies that use the live microorganisms to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle as well as keeping our gut’s microbiome in check. When we have some sort of probiotic foods in our system, we are preventing certain ailments and diseases going out of control. Like our cholesterol, blood pressure, being lactose intolerant, or recurring abdominal pains.

When we mix probiotics into our food when we are trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, we can see a vast improvement in how we have more energy, we feel full that we don’t have to overeat or mindless snacking, and overall we feel good in our gut as we go through our daily routine. From 2007 to now, roughly 3.9 million Americans use probiotics to maintain a healthy gut, however, those probiotics are just a fraction of what the six types of foods that can help maintain a healthy gut microbiome to help support a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy Lifestyle

For instance, a good healthy lifestyle is eating your basic food groups; whether it be plant-based or omnivorous, as well as, exercising a couple of times out of the year. A bad healthy lifestyle is eating processed food and not exercising, which leads to obesity and cardiac arrest. Depending on the person and the efforts that they are willing to maintain a healthy lifestyle, they can achieve longevity by taking care of their gut first and foremost.

Protein

Let’s start with protein. Protein can vary with lean meats like chicken and beef or plant-based like beans, legumes or tofu. Any of these types of protein can help our bodies by making us make our muscles grow, but also control the bacteria in our guts. Next up is fats. Fats can vary like good and bad bacteria. There are good fats like fish, nuts, olive oil, and avocado; as well as, bad fats like butter, lard, and fatty foods. Granted that we can overindulge on the trans fats as there are many fast-food chains, but we can moderate ourselves to not eat out at fast food joints all the time.

Yes, they are cheap and easy to access, however now and days, we as humans are now cooking more in our homes and meal prepping our meals to be healthier. Digestible and Non-Digestible Carbohydrates are mostly starch, sugars, and fibers. These two food groups can make our gut feel happy or upset depending on the food we consume. Sugars, starches, and fibers help our bodies by feeling full with the starches, the fibers help our bowel movements in case our gut feels bloated, and the sugars gives us microburst of energy for our fast-paced lives.

Fermented & Polyphenols

The last two food groups are fermented food and Polyphenols. Both of these food groups have amazing properties since we see them everywhere in the food market, hiding in plain sight. Fermented foods like yogurt and kimchi are a few examples of ways of keeping our guts happy and stopping many diseases. Polyphenols are antioxidant foods like dark chocolate, berries, dark greens, and certain fruits. These help our gut curb that sugar hunger and all in all taste really good.

All in all, our gut microbiomes are important to us and our overall health as we all try to maintain and achieve a healthy lifestyle. The phrase “we are what we eat” still implies to all of us, however, it is up to us to actually put in the work and constantly try out different foods to make sure that our gut is still functioning properly. No matter which diet you choose, pick one that will work with your body and your gut since we all are made differently. But our gut should be the first thing that we should listen to.

Cites:

Role of gut microbiota and nutrients in amyloid formation and pathogenesis of Alzheimer disease. - PubMed – NCBI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27634977

Bacteroidetes Glossary Biome360: https://www.biome360.com/glossary/bacteroidetes/

What are Firmicutes? : https://www.biome360.com/blog/firmicutes/

Bacteria and the body – Wikiversity: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Bacteria_and_the_body#Gram-positive_bacteria

Nanoparticle relieved symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease in mice: https://phys.org/news/2019-08-nanoparticle-relieved-symptoms-inflammatory-bowel.html

Probiotic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic

Polyphenols: What They Are, and Why You Need Them: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/12/14/polyphenols-benefits.aspx

Muscle Fasciculation Improvement & Dietary Change: Gluten Neuropathy | Neuropathy "The Painful Enigma" | Scoop.it

From www.elpasobackclinic.com - November 1, 2017 6:41 PM

Muscle Fasciculations:

Key indexing terms:

Fasciculation
muscular
Gluten
Celiac disease
Chiropractic
Food hypersensitivity

Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this case report is to describe a patient with chronic, multisite muscle fasciculations who presented to a chiropractic teaching clinic and was treated with dietary modifications.

Clinical features: A 28-year-old man had muscle fasciculations of 2 years. The fasciculations began in his eye and progressed to the lips and lower extremities. In addition, he had gastrointestinal distress and fatigue. The patient was previously diagnosed as having wheat allergy at the age of 24 but was not compliant with a gluten-free diet at that time. Food sensitivity testing revealed immunoglobulin G–based sensitivity to multiple foods, including many different grains and dairy products. The working diagnosis was gluten neuropathy.

Intervention and outcome: Within 6 months of complying with dietary restrictions based on the sensitivity testing, the patient’s muscle fasciculations completely resolved. The other complaints of brain fog, fatigue, and gastrointestinal distress also improved.

Conclusions: This report describes improvement in chronic, widespread muscle fasciculations and various other systemic symptoms with dietary changes. There is strong suspicion that this case represents one of gluten neuropathy, although testing for celiac disease specifically was not performed.

Introduction: Muscle Fasciculations

There are 3 known types of negative reactions to wheat proteins, collectively known as wheat protein reactivity: wheat allergy (WA), gluten sensitivity (GS), and celiac disease (CD). Of the 3, only CD is known to involve autoimmune reactivity, generation of antibodies, and intestinal mucosal damage. Wheat allergy involves the release of histamine by way of immunoglobulin (Ig) E cross-linking with gluten peptides and presents within hours after ingestion of wheat proteins. Gluten sensitivity is considered to be a diagnosis of exclusion; sufferers improve symptomatically with a gluten-free diet (GFD) but do not express antibodies or IgE reactivity.1

The reported prevalence of WA is variable. Prevalence ranges from 0.4% to 9% of the population.2,3 The prevalence of GS is somewhat difficult to determine, as it does not have a standard definition and is a diagnosis of exclusion. Gluten sensitivity prevalence of 0.55% is based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2009 to 2010.4 In a 2011 study, a GS prevalence of 10% was reported in the US population.5 In contrast to the above 2 examples, CD is well defined. A 2012 study examining serum samples from 7798 patients in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database from 2009 to 2010 found an overall prevalence of 0.71% in the United States.6

Neurologic manifestations associated with negative reactions to wheat proteins have been well documented. As early as 1908, “peripheral neuritis” was thought to be associated with CD.7 A review of all published studies on this topic from 1964 to 2000 indicated that the most common neurologic manifestations associated with GS were ataxia (35%), peripheral neuropathy (35%), and myopathy (16%). 8 Headaches, paresthesia, hyporeflexia, weakness, and vibratory sense reduction were reported to be more prevalent in CD patients vs controls.9 These same symptoms were more prevalent in CD patients who did not strictly follow a GFD vs those who were compliant with GFD.

At present, there are no case reports describing the chiropractic management of patient with gluten neuropathy. Therefore, the purpose of this case study is to describe a patient presentation of suspected gluten neuropathy and a treatment protocol using dietary modifications.

Case Report

A 28-year-old man presented to a chiropractic teaching clinic with complaints of constant muscle fasciculations of 2 years’ duration. The muscle fasciculations originally started in the left eye and remained there for about 6 months. The patient then noticed that the fasciculations began to move to other areas of his body. They first moved into the right eye, followed by the lips, and then to the calves, quadriceps, and gluteus muscles. The twitching would sometimes occur in a single muscle or may involve all of the above muscles simultaneously. Along with the twitches, he reports a constant “buzzing” or “crawling” feeling in his legs. There was no point during the day or night when the twitches ceased.

The patient originally attributed the muscle twitching to caffeine intake (20 oz of coffee a day) and stress from school. The patient denies the use of illicit drugs, tobacco, or any prescription medication but does drink alcohol (mainly beer) in moderation. The patient ate a diet high in meats, fruits, vegetables, and pasta. Eight months after the initial fasciculations began, the patient began to experience gastrointestinal (GI) distress. Symptoms included constipation and bloating after meals. He also began to experience what he describes as “brain fog,” a lack of concentration, and a general feeling of fatigue. The patient noticed that when the muscle fasciculations were at their worst, his GI symptoms correspondingly worsened. At this point, the patient put himself on a strict GFD; and within 2 months, the symptoms began to alleviate but never completely ceased. The GI symptoms improved, but he still experienced bloating. The patient’s diet consisted mostly of meats, fruit, vegetables, gluten-free grains, eggs, and dairy.

At the age of 24, the patient was diagnosed with WA after seeing his physician for allergies. Serum testing revealed elevated IgE antibodies against wheat, and the patient was advised to adhere to a strict GFD. The patient admits to not following a GFD until his fasciculations peaked in December 2011. In July of 2012, blood work was evaluated for levels of creatine kinase, creatine kinase–MB, and lactate dehydrogenase to investigate possible muscle breakdown. All values were within normal limits. In September of 2012, the patient under- went food allergy testing once again (US Biotek, Seattle, WA). Severely elevated IgG antibody levels were found against cow’s milk, whey, chicken egg white, duck egg white, chicken egg yolk, duck egg yolk, barley, wheat gliadin, wheat gluten, rye, spelt, and whole wheat (Table 1). Given the results of the food allergy panel, the patient was recommended to remove this list of foods from his diet. Within 6 months of complying with the dietary changes, the patient’s muscle fasciculations completely resolved. The patient also experienced much less GI distress, fatigue, and lack of concentration.

Discussion

The authors could not find any published case studies related to a presentation such as the one described here. We believe this is a unique presentation of wheat protein reactivity and thereby represents a contribution to the body of knowledge in this field.

This case illustrates an unusual presentation of a widespread sensorimotor neuropathy that seemed to respond to dietary changes. Although this presentation is consistent with gluten neuropathy, a diagnosis of CD was not investigated. Given the patient had both GI and neurologic symptoms, the likelihood of gluten neuropathy is very high.

There are 3 forms of wheat protein reactivity. Because there was confirmation of WA and GS, it was decided that testing for CD was unnecessary. The treatment for all 3 forms is identical: GFD.

The pathophysiology of gluten neuropathy is a topic that needs further investigation. Most authors agree it involves an immunologic mechanism, possibly a direct or indirect neurotoxic effect of antigliadin anti- bodies. 9,10 Briani et al 11 found antibodies against ganglionic and/or muscle acetylcholine receptors in 6 of 70 CD patients. Alaedini et al12 found anti-ganglioside antibody positivity in 6 of 27 CD patients and proposed that the presence of these antibodies may be linked to gluten neuropathy.

It should also be noted that both dairy and eggs showed high responses on the food sensitivity panel. After reviewing the literature, no studies could be located linking either food with neuromuscular symp- toms consistent with the ones presented here. There- fore, it is unlikely that a food other than gluten was responsible for the muscle fasciculations described in this case. The other symptoms described (fatigue, brain fog, GI distress) certainly may be associated with any number of food allergies/sensitivities.

Limitations

One limitation in this case is the failure to confirm CD. All symptoms and responses to dietary change point to this as a likely possibility, but we cannot confirm this diagnosis. It is also possible that the symptomatic response was not due directly to dietary change but some other unknown variable. Sensitivity to foods other than gluten was documented, including reactions to dairy and eggs. These food sensitivities may have contributed to some of the symptoms present in this case. As is the nature of case reports, these results cannot necessarily be generalized to other patients with similar symptoms.

Conclusion: Muscle Fasciculations

This report describes improvement in chronic, widespread muscle fasciculations and various other systemic symptoms with dietary change. There is strong suspicion that this case represents one of gluten neuropathy, although testing for CD specifically was not performed.

Brian Anderson DC, CCN, MPHa,⁎, Adam Pitsinger DC

Attending Clinician, National University of Health Sciences, Lombard, IL Chiropractor, Private Practice, Polaris, OH

Acknowledgment

This case report is submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Advanced Clinical Practice in the Lincoln College of Post-professional, Graduate, and Continuing Education at the National University of Health Sciences.

Funding Sources and Conflicts of Interest

No funding sources or conflicts of interest were reported for this study.

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sensitivity as a neurological illness. J Neurol Neurosurg
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Myopathy associated with gluten sensitivity. Muscle Nerve
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neurological abnormalities in adult celiac disease. Neurol Sci
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Foods That Promote The Microbiome El Paso, TX. | Call: 915-850-0900 or 915-412-6677