Category: Research
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Reflux
A systematic review by Pan et al. (2019) concluded that people who consume alcohol are more likely to be diagnosed with GERD than those who don’t drink regularly, in a dose-dependent manner. When looking at subgroups, they found that studies conducted in Asia resulted in a statistically significant relationship between alcohol consumption and GERD, while…
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Artificial Sweeteners, Microbiome, and Glucose Tolerance
Some studies (Ahmad et al., 2020; Serrano et al., 2021) have concluded that consumption pf normal amounts of artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin, or sucralose, does not impact the gastrointestinal microbiota. However, Suez et al. (2014) found the correlation between non-caloric artificial sweetener intake and Enterbacteriaceae, Deltaproteobacteria, and Actinobacteria to be statistically significant, when…
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Probiotic Strain Specificity
A study by Ghattargi et al. (2018) highlights the potential for strains from a single species to range from probiotic to pathogenic, with some being cultivated in traditional fermentation while others exhibit a neutrality that is neither probiotic nor pathogenic. This study compared the genomes of ten different strains of Enterococcus faecium. While these different…
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Glucuronidation and Enterohepatic Recirculation
β-glucuronidase produced by the microbiome can deconjugate xenobiotics that have already undergone glucuronidation by phase II enzymes, causing them to undergo enterohepatic recirculation rather than being eliminated in the feces. Elmassry et al. (2021) found that males have higher levels of intestinal β-glucuronidase than females, and infants have higher levels than their mothers. Malik et…
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Diaphragmatic Breathing
One group of clients for whom I would recommend diaphragmatic breathing are those who are interested in detoxification yet are also experiencing ongoing stress. The IFM handout, Breathing Techniques to Soothe the Soul, gives a good description of the modality on one page, and suggests that five minutes of practice would be enough to achieve…
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Sleep and Muscle Mass
Daily rhythms of light and darkness have been a part of human evolution. While some animals are more active nocturnally and humans tend to get exercise and food in the daylight hours, our evolutionary heritage may have led to shared similarities in how circadian genes orchestrate muscle cells’ response to the energy influx that comes…
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Sweat Detox
The possibility for sweat as a route of toxin excretion is intriguing. Hussain et al. (2023) found metabolites from insecticides in the sweat of women who participated in a randomized crossover trial involving sauna and indoor cycling. The authors noted differences in the levels detected between the two modes of inducing sweat, and between the…
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Brassicas for Liver Function
An association has been found between higher levels of gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) and serum levels of several persistent organic pollutants (Lee & Jacobs, 2006). Also, increased oxidative stress has been found in association with elevated GGT (Lim et al., 2004). Brassicas are emphasized in the Detox Food Plan, and consumption of cooked, frozen brassica vegetables…
Northern Nutritionals 