Are probiotics a cure or just another band-aid fix?
Today I share with you an interview with Dr Anh Nguyen, PharmD, BCACP, a board-certified pharmacist, certified health coach, avid foodie, and functional medicine practitioner who finds and fixes the root cause of chronic conditions, specializing in gut health. I wanted the scoop about why the link between skin health and gut health is so significant (because if you think about, it’s not really a connection you’d hear of and just ‘get it’ right away!), and of course the conversation quickly moved to the topic of probiotics.
What Dr. Anh explained, which I thought was really fascinating, is that probiotics alone can’t be everyone’s solution. Re-populating the gut with beneficial microbes might help make people more regular or reduce common discomfort and even visible skin conditions for a time, but if the cause of the imbalance isn’t identified and addressed, the problems will return if the person discontinues the probiotic.
The mentality of “I’m fine with x food as long as I have my probiotic” is in fact, an allopathic mentality–not necessarily a holistic or functional one. It’s the same as people who eat lots of spicy foods and then follow them with antacids, or who overindulge in junk food and then spend hours at the gym to ‘undo’ the damage.
Does Dr. Anh recommend that people DON’T take probiotics?
Well, in some cases, yes! Which might be shocking, since so many health professionals tout probiotics as a panacea (another allopathic thought process). There are some health conditions where the introduction of probiotics at the wrong time–while the allergen or irritant (the cause) is still present–can do more harm than good. There are also some chronic conditions that exist where a certain amount of healing has to be done before introducing a probiotic is safe or effective. I found this really fascinating.
Dr. Anh also talks a lot about another cause of health issues facing Americans today–the source of our food-particularly how soil quality affects our health. This is something I learned a lot about whilst teaching at the Rodale Institute, and I’m really glad Dr. Anh brought it up because it’s a topic that often gets ignored.
Near the end of the interview, I decided to call out the white elephant in the room, and address how while functional and integrative medicine offers amazing benefits to people–many practitioners and preventative tests are very expensive and aren’t covered by insurance. Dr. Anh and I discuss what people can do about that in the interview too.
Thanks so much for a great interview, Dr. Anh!
Here’s how to learn more from Dr. Anh:
Go to www.dranh.com to get “The Clean Eating Rules: How to Eat to Lose Weight, Improve Your Biometrics, and Get More Energy”
Listen to Dr. Anh’s #1-ranked iTunes podcast, Food as Medicine podcast at www.DrAnh.com/iTunes
Book a consultation with Dr. Anh at www.DrAnh.com/work to get help with optimizing your nutrition, addressing food sensitivities, and healing your gut.
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