How Did This Happen?

Gut and Psychology Syndrome - how does this come about? WHY do I need to follow the GAPS Diet? Here are the 2 main reasons people develop abnormal gut flora:

1. Antiobiotics
2. Other Drugs

These factors can then also have an effect on the gut flora:

1. Diet
2. Disease
3. Stress
4. "Other"

Here is what I suspect in my case - years plus one constant year of nothing but antibiotics followed by years of improper diet. Let me explain:

Growing up,we all use antibiotics. We get sick, our parents want us better, we go to the doctor and more often than not we were given an antibiotic. And then it came about that the entire year before my tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy, I was chronically sick. Tonsillitis - pharyngitis - strep. Each time I would go in, an antibiotic was prescribed. The antibiotic would clear it up, but typically very temporarily. Shortly thereafter, I was sick as a dog again - back on antibiotics.

Dr. Natasha states, "The damage is worse when antibiotics are administered orally and when the course of antibiotic is a lengthy one on a low dose, like the one prescribed for acne, chronic cystitis, chronic ear infection and other chronic infections." She continues to say, "Even when the course of antibiotic is short and the dose is low, it takes different beneficial bacteria in the gut a long time to recover."

Antibiotics have just become a "normal" part of the Western life. But with each new "course" of antibiotic I (we) took/take, the immune system actually becomes more damaged. The antibiotics "have a devastating effect on beneficial bacteria in the human body, not only in the gut but in other organs and tissues as well."

I believe that my 20+ years of improper diet also contributed to my GAPS. While the antibiotics and tonsillectomy stress may have been the main cause of gut "teardown," improper diet certainly did not help." Too many sugary foods and processed carbohydrates increase numbers of different fungi, Candida species in particular, Streptococci, Staphylococci, some Clostridia species, Bacteriods and some aerobic opportunistic bacteria. Processed and sugary carbohydrates (white bread, cakes, biscuits, pastries and pasta) also promote population of the gut with worms and other parasites."

I know what most people are thinking right now, "Yeah right - you eat so healthy." Two points I will make about that:

1.  Growing up, I ate sugar, carbs, cakes and anything else consistently! I never once thought about food, until about a year ago.
2. Even when I did think about food, "healthy" to me was fat free, sugar free. However, typically that meant 100-calorie packs of Oreos. And what that means is fake, artificial, preservatives. 
   

"Healthy eating" is not simply fat free, sugar free or the like. Dr. Natasha says, "Generally, when gut dysbiosis is caused exclusively by poor diet it is usually fairly mild and can be corrected by better eating habits. Unfortunately, in our modern world it is rare not to be exposed to other factors which would also damage your gut flora, antibiotics for example.

So, How Did This Happen? Seems fairly easy to understand how easily this happens, especially in our Modern World.

Next up, The Opportunistic Flora.  

Time to grab a probiotic and head to the gym!

GAPS Diet: Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD



She is the face behind the GAPS Diet. According to her site:

Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride holds a degree in Medicine and Postgraduate degrees in both Neurology and Human Nutrition.  In her clinic in Cambridge she specializes in nutrition for children and adults with behavioral and learning disabilities, and adults with digestive and immune system disorders.

Dr. Campbell-McBride set up The Cambridge Nutrition Clinic in 1998.  As a parent of a child diagnosed with learning disabilities, she was acutely aware of the difficulties facing other parents like her, and she has devoted much of her time to helping these families.  She realized that nutrition played a critical role in helping children and adults to overcome their disabilities, and has pioneered the use of probiotics in this field.

She believes that the link between learning disabilities, the food and drink that we take, and the condition of our digestive system is absolute, and the results of her work have supported her position on this subject.  In her clinic, parents discuss all aspects of their child's condition, confident in the knowledge that they are not only talking to a professional but to a parent who has lived their experience.  Her deep understanding of the challenges they face puts her advice in a class of its own. 

If ever there is a day that I get to meet Dr. Natasha, I will be in awe! I admire her for 4 main reasons:

1. For evolving the SCD in a way that perhaps aided in benefiting above and beyond what the SCD does/did for so many. 
2. For taking concepts she already believed in and people she admired and transforming them into her own through diligent studying and research.
3. For taking an unfortunate situation with her own child and investigating healing through nutrition vs. relying on a doctor to medicate.

Finally, and most importantly, I admire her because she spoke the truth. She was not out to provide "just another" useless self-help book. This resource she provided CHANGED MY LIFE. YES - I can say with 100% conviction - The GUT & PSYCHOLOGY SYNDROME DIET has CHANGED MY LIFE!


I will forever be thankful for you, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD.