Digestion

Viome vs. Biohm: Which Is Best for Microbiome Testing?

By Brandon LaGreca / June 3, 2023 / Comments Off on Viome vs. Biohm: Which Is Best for Microbiome Testing?

Microbiome research is changing the way we practice medicine. After decades of refining the optimization of probiotics, we must now consider the nuances of prebiotics and postbiotics. Think of prebiotics as food for the gut microbiome and postbiotics as health-aiding metabolites produced by microbes. Add to this the consumer trend of sampling and shipping one’s…

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Constipation Cures: Effective Remedies from Nature’s Pharmacy

By Brandon LaGreca / April 5, 2023 / Comments Off on Constipation Cures: Effective Remedies from Nature’s Pharmacy

Constipation can be a frustrating condition. There are many reasons for getting backed up, and it can take some detective work to discover the underlying cause.

It is worth the time and effort to investigate the root of constipation and not become reliant on harsh purgatives. Laxatives have side effects, including a loss of bowel tone with long-term use.

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Fixing Digestion for Good

By Brandon LaGreca / January 6, 2023 / Comments Off on Fixing Digestion for Good

Digestion is way too important of a process to entrust to a gastroenterologist. Being your own advocate begins with eating a whole food, nutrient-dense diet and using simple approaches to improve digestion rather than blunting digestive fire with acid-suppressing drugs like proton pump inhibitors. We have to appreciate that the combined contributions of gastric acid, bile acid, and enzymes are a fiery cauldron of transmutation.

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My Experience with the Clear Passage Approach to Treating Abdominal Adhesions

By Brandon LaGreca / May 15, 2022 / Comments Off on My Experience with the Clear Passage Approach to Treating Abdominal Adhesions

It had been a long six years. Following remission of the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis that filled my abdominal cavity with tumors, I still suffered from periodic episodes of small bowel obstruction secondary to deep scar tissue known as adhesions. Although infrequent, these episodes were severe, traumatic, and occasionally resulted in hospitalization.

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Reflux: Too Much or Not Enough Stomach Acid?

By Brandon LaGreca / October 1, 2020 / Comments Off on Reflux: Too Much or Not Enough Stomach Acid?

If suffering from reflux, don’t settle for a “band-aid” solution and get to the root of the problem. Proton pump inhibitor drugs are appropriate for those who genuinely overproduce gastric acid but were designed for short-term use only. Taking them for years further degrades digestive vigor for someone not producing enough stomach acid. Clean up your diet and try on or more of these natural remedies to reclaim your digestive health and live free of the symptoms of reflux. 

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CC0 Lukas

To Heat or Not to Heat: The Failing of Raw Food Diets

By Brandon LaGreca / June 25, 2018 / Comments Off on To Heat or Not to Heat: The Failing of Raw Food Diets

The findings of Francis Pottenger are often cited as proof that humans, as animals, should be consuming a raw diet. Being that humans are the only Earth-dwellers who have harnessed fire, raw food is indeed the only option on the menu for the rest of the animal kingdom.

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Ferment Your Way to a Healthier Gut with Homemade Sauerkraut

By Brandon LaGreca / April 16, 2018 / Comments Off on Ferment Your Way to a Healthier Gut with Homemade Sauerkraut

Teeming with life and full of bubbly deliciousness, sauerkraut is digestive vigor in a jar. 

When made at home, sauerkraut is inexpensive and simple to prepare. One head of cabbage yields about a quart of sauerkraut and trillions of beneficial bacteria to supplement your gut flora. 

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Reduce Microbiome Damage from Antibiotics with Probiotics and Prebiotics

By Brandon LaGreca / March 13, 2018 / Comments Off on Reduce Microbiome Damage from Antibiotics with Probiotics and Prebiotics

Antibiotics are lifesaving but have significant negative health consequences, reducing populations of beneficial gut flora along with the pathogenic microbes they are prescribed to target. This side effect can be hedged while on a course of antibiotics, and restorative strategies can be employed to more quickly repopulate native gut flora.

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Living with a Small Bowel Obstruction

By Brandon LaGreca / December 16, 2017 / Comments Off on Living with a Small Bowel Obstruction

In February 2015 I was diagnosed with a small bowel obstruction (SBO), secondary to lymphoma. An enlarged lymph node was encroaching into the luminal space of the intestinal wall, causing an intussusception whereby the small bowel starts to telescope into itself. This blocks the passage of food and drink, resulting in severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting.

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Bentonite Clay: Eating Earth for Optimal Gastrointestinal Health

By Brandon LaGreca / September 12, 2017 /

The practice of consuming clay is prehistoric, with references to its medical use documented by Hippocrates. 

Bentonite is the most common form of medicinal clay available and is used as a base for some prescription medicines. Although bentonite can be used externally as a poultice, it is most commonly recommended as a gentle therapy to cleanse the gastrointestinal tract. 

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