Remember the Dr. Seuss book “Horton hears a who” Where an elephant goes a bit nutty after discovering the existence of an entire world living in a spec of dust?  This is how I imagine our microbiome to be, an entire universe of crazy looking Seussian characters co-habitating the spec of dust that is our gut, skin and mouths.  That’s right folks, despite our best 2020 inspired OCD hygiene efforts we are literally crawling with bugs, and it’s fabulous!  Like any civilization our microbiome plays host to thousands of organisms, from average joe’s to attention seeking heroes and villains unwittingly impacting everything from our immune system to our emotional health.  The influence of our micro-bacteria societies are so complex and far reaching that scientists are only scratching the surface of understanding the important role they play in our health.  After decades of focusing our attention on the eradication of bad bacteria we missed the incredibly crucial role good bacteria (which we were accidentally annihilating as well) play in our immune health.

YOu can now learn exactly who is living in your own spec of dust

I’m excited to have teamed up with Microbiome labs to offer an incredibly in-depth Biomfx stool test. These take home tests utilize some of the most advanced and accurate sequencing technologies to give us a complete picture not only of the bacterial characters you’ve got onboard, but of the specific metabolic functions affected by your very own colony.

And you thought you were in control (haha)

Aspects of your health actually critically influenced by your microbiome: 

• Allergies: Seasonal and food.

• All aspects of digestive health; crohns, IBS, candida, etc..

• Cardiovascular health: heart disease, high blood pressure ect..

• Diabetes: the mirobiome has a direct influence the metabolism of lipids and glucose.

• Depression: The gut-brain axis via the Vagus nerve shows a direct link with depression and gut dysbiosis.

• Autoimmune disease : Leaky gut plays a major role in all autoimmune diseases, so whether you’ve got Hashimotos, celiacs, lupus, rheumatiod arthritis, ect..

• Addiction: Gut bacteria influence neurologic pathways involved in addiction: see this Study.

• Obesity: Probiotic supplementation was shown to increase weight loss in this study.

• Cancer: While certain microbes are believed to be linked to cancer risk by modifying DNA, specific probiotics are being used to treat certain types of cancer.

• Arthritis: Due to inflammation caused by microbial dysbiosis.  

• Immune system: The key to our immune system lies in the gut health, diverse microbiomes have been linked to healthy immune systems in several studies.

• Neurodegenerative disease: Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s. Recent studies have shown a high percentage of Parkinson’s patients to have a history of H-pylori, crohns or IBS. The Vagus nerve which connects the digestive system to the brain is thought to carry alpha-synuclein pathology from the ENS directly to the brain where it causes neurodegenerative disease. Check out this study for more info.

It’s a well researched fact that the more abundant and diverse our microbiome, the healthier we are likely to be. The moment we’re born we pick up bacteria from our mother’s birth canal (“that’s disgusting mom!” -my daughter’s response to this fun fact) and continue to diversify our microbiome through breastfeeding as our mother’s milk produces the bacterial antidote to different pathogens that we acquire as infants (see? Your mom really does have super powers).  As we toddle barefoot in the backyard introducing every object we meet to the depths of our mouths, play with pets or eat dirt, we further equip our immune system with beneficial bacteria.  In fact, several studies show that children who grow up in homes with dogs are far less likely to develop respiratory or ear infections than those without. It turns out that man’s best friend is your gut’s best friend too.  In my Master’s program, the biology teacher informed us that children who grow up in homes with three or more pets tend to have healthier immune systems.  I took this advice to an extreme, as we’ve always had two dogs and a cat, plus an endless stream of chickens and foster kittens and puppies.  Our tendency as a culture however is to shelter our babies from germs, keeping them safe from the threat of sickness in the hyper-santized sanitariums of our homes.  This well intended, protective kind of parenting can often backfire however as studies show that children who grow in more sterile environments tend to develop greater environmental sensitivities or allergies.  

The more we sanitize and sterilize our homes the less happy our microbiomes can become, so while your neighbor’s squeaky clean kitchen may make you feel inadequate, just know that you’re likely outshining her in the gut bacteria department.  Our collective endeavor for cleanliness has gone a bit overboard with anti-bacterial everything and the overuse of antibiotics and other medications along with an overall indoor inclined culture.  Our very necessary efforts to thwart the spread of COVID through isolation, sanitization and mask wearing over the last year has likely taken a  bit of a toll on our gut bacteria, but desperate times call for desperate measures and there are several ways for us to keep our good bacteria on board. 

7 tips for supersizing your microbes:

1. Get a comprehensive look at your microbiome inhabitants with specific supplementation recommendations on how to bring them into balance with a biomfx test at the clinic.

2. Get a pet (or three), dogs are great because they get you outside and carry a wealth of mostly beneficial bacteria in their slobbery kisses.  Dogs and cats also pick up microbes on their feet and transfer them to your skin when you rub them.  

3. Choose hand washing over hand sanitizing whenever it’s an option and avoid the antibacterial soap.  Hand washing is always a great idea and won’t kill off those good bugs. 

4. Eat local and organic.  Local fruits and veggies from the farmers market are packed with pre-biotics from the soil. 

5. Get pinned:  Acupuncture has been shown in several studies to modify the microbiome by inhibiting bad bacteria while encouraging the growth of good bacteria, resulting in a more efficient metabolism and reduction in depression and anxiety via stimulation of the vagus nerve or gut-brain axis. 

6. Supplement:  choosing the right digestive enzymes and probiotics can be a hassle, I’m here to help.  When your digestion is on the fritz, chances are you’re unwittingly flushing your vitamins and herbs down the drain, the right digestive aids can remedy all your digestive woes and have you assimilating and reaping the benefits of your pricey supplements.

7. Ramp up your microbe friendly foods like sauerkraut, kombucha, Kim chi and anything pickled while also increasing pomegranates, dark cocoa, red wine, blueberries and green tea. 

I first experienced anxiety while pregnant with my second daughter when 20 minutes of Cormac Mcarthy’s post apocalyptic movie version of “The Road” threw me into a month long panic attack.  20 minutes of a movie was all it took to trigger my prenatal hormone frazzled amygdala into full blown cortisol driven alarm mode. This Anxiety ruined any semblance of sleep I was able to catch with a 2 year old in the house and sent me on a high tech home security search that became an obsession. As if the only thing standing between my family and a post-apocalyptic mob of cannibalists was an alarm system.  I knew I was being ridiculous, but my nervous system was beyond reason. Fortunately my initial glimpse into the discomfort of anxiety was short lived as a few weeks of hormone regulating Acupuncture (and perhaps a few glasses of wine) was all it took for me to get back my calm. For many though, Anxiety is a constant and relentless companion and something which I treat every day at Durango Acupuncture Clinic.

Introducing the Amygdala and Hippocampus and their role in Anxiety

The amygdala is like a family dog who spends his days in a kind of obsessive vigilance at the window just waiting to alert you and your brain to the presence of impending doom and danger, usually in the form of a UPS man.  This normally serves to keep us out of harm's way, but hormonal fluctuations, extreme trauma and stress can throw our amygdala’s off, resulting in everything suddenly becoming a major threat.

The hippocampus is a lot like your mother, in that it takes certain scary or threatening events (like that time you thought it would be fun to ride your bike with no hands and ended up in a cast for the summer) and never, ever lets you forget about them.  The hippocampus stores these frightening events in fragmented flashbacks in the brain to remind you to stay away from dangers in the future, but when your brain is imbalanced by severe trauma, these memories can lead to PTSD.

These two parts of the brain can act like sugar crazed kids at a slumber party who just had a seance and are freaking out!  They can trigger the increase of neurotransmitters like norepinephrine (which increases heart rate and blood pressure) and dopamine (which can increase feelings of dread) and decrease GABA and 5HTP, your body's go-to transmitters for inducing a state of calm and happiness.    

These brain centers and neurotransmitters are designed to make us safe and keep us out of harm's way, but when stress, trauma, thyroid issues, or hormone fluctuations come into play, they can lead to neurological imbalances and anxiety disorders.  

Fortunately, there are effective ways to reduce anxiety:

1. Get  Acupuncture: which has been shown in studies to reduce anxiety by altering the functional release of neurotransmitters to stop the autonomic response.  Which is like giving your amygdala a bone to gnaw on and your worried mother-like hippocampus a cocktail. It can also affect the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems by reducing cortisol and adrenaline and increasing serotonin levels.  There's a reason why you always seem to float out the Acupuncture room. Anxiety is something that I work with everyday at Durang Acupuncture Clinic and Acupuncture is completely safe for those currently taking anti-anxiety or SSRI medications.

2. Practice mindfulness through yoga and meditation.  Yoga is a wonderful way to soothe the nervous system through movement, you can join Michelle Lawrence and I at Yogadurango November 11th for a workshop of heart opening yoga followed by Acupuncture and guided meditation specifically geared toward treating anxiety.  This workshop sold out last year and we are so excited to offer it again!

3. Give your brain the building blocks for GABA and 5HTP:  Sometimes your brain needs a little help and there are a number of powerful herbal supplements that can give your body the building blocks it needs to create this vital neurotransmitters.  I carry a number of supplements by the brand Neuroscience, which are carefully designed to recalibrate your neurology in a way that is safe and incredibly effective. I love helping patients find the right one for them.

4. Get on the Adaptogen bandwagon:  Adaptogens are getting a lot of buzz lately and it's easy to see why.  Adaptogenic herbs like Ashwagandha, ginseng and Astragalus are herbal pharmaceuticals that work to counteract the effects of stress on the body.  They regulate a stable balance in the hypothalamic, pituitary and adrenal glands to essentially hack the stress response.. Reducing fatigue, depression and calming the central nervous system.