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27 written by Dr. Frank Lipman in Gut Health
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May 11, 2026 · Gut HealthGive Your Gut a Break: The Science of Fasting and the Microbiome
Your gut is home to trillions of microbes that shape everything from digestion to metabolism and even mood. And here’s the surprising part: it’s not just what you eat that matters. It’s when you eat. Emerging research suggests that well-timed breaks between meals, like intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating, can help boost microbial diversity, strengthen your gut barrier, and cool inflammation. But before you skip dinner and call it a day, the science is more nuanced than the hype. So what can fasting do for your microbiome? Potentially, a world of good.
Nov 3, 2025 · Gut HealthGut Health’s Key Role in Longevity: What Hippocrates Knew and Modern Science Confirms
Hippocrates (460–370 BCE), the Greek physician often hailed as the “father of Western medicine,” is best known for his declaration primum non nocere, or, “First, do no harm”. Whether he uttered those exact words is uncertain, but their spirit has anchored medical ethics through the centuries. Also attributed to him, ‘All disease begins in the gut,’ feels especially pertinent today. Again, the exact phrase may be apocryphal, but the underlying insight lives in his teachings. As modern science expands our understanding of how trillions of microbes in our intestines influence our immunity, metabolism, mood, and aging, I see Hippocrates’ intuition in a new and more profound light. Revisiting that ancient medical tradition helps us think about health and longevity in a more integrative and holistic way, ideally helping us to enhance both.
Sep 30, 2024 · Gut HealthDitch Your PPIs: 5 Secrets of Making Peace with Stomach Acid
In the right amounts, stomach acid is great stuff: it helps to break down the food you each, and also helps the body extract essential nutrients, like vitamin B12 and the mineral magnesium. As well, it’s responsible for maintaining the proper acidic environment in the stomach that helps stop most bacteria, viruses and fungi in their tracks. So making it all disappear (to an extent) with PPIs is to my mind counterproductive to good health in both younger folks and particularly older ones.
Dec 11, 2023 · Gut Health15 Everyday Ways to Keep Constipation At Bay
Constipation. It’s a punchline of a word that can set off giggles, but when you’re experiencing it, it’s anything but funny. Uncomfortable and unpleasant, constipation gets in the way of normal life, leaving you wanting to eliminate the problem as quickly as possible. And while occasional constipation isn’t that unusual, frequent bouts are. They’re also your body’s way of letting you know it’s time to pay more attention to how you’re treating it, what you’re putting in it and what may be missing. Think of constipation as a message, and if you choose to ignore it, chronic gastrointestinal problems like diarrhea, IBS, leaky gut and inflammation are very likely to follow.
Oct 16, 2023 · Gut HealthHow to Manage The Six Microbiomes That Keep You Well
What researchers and the wellness community are increasingly coming to appreciate is that the human body is not just made up of human cells and a bunch of bacteria in the gut. We are a collection of microbiomes. Humans and the bacteria that live inside us co-evolved over the millennia, one giant quid pro quo – our bodies provided the bugs with a moist, warm home, complete with a steady food source, and they sustain us in a variety of ways, most numerously and elaborately in the gut. But there are 5 more less talked about but fundamental microbiomes in your body to also pay attention to if you wish to stay well.
Sep 25, 2023 · Gut Health5 Things You Need to Know About Leaky Brain – and How to Prevent It
Here’s a new one for you: leaky brain and it’s a syndrome that everyone who has a brain needs to be aware of. Integrative doctors call it “leaky brain” and it’s remarkably similar to leaky gut but, just like the name says, at the level of the brain. The two conditions often feed off each other. Taken together, leaky brain and gut give us a much fuller picture of how a bad diet and too much stress conspire to make us feel and look less than our best, pushing us away from optimal health and towards chronic disease.
Apr 10, 2023 · Gut HealthStep Away from Sweeteners To Keep Your Gut Happy and Healthy
As people have become conscious of the dangers of sugar, many are making an effort to purge it from their lives – and that’s a big step in the right direction. If you’re in the process of kicking sugar, keep up the good work, and give yourself a pat on the back. But I’ve got some news for you that you may not want to hear, even though you need to. If you’re relying on non-sugar, ‘non-nutritive’ artificial sweeteners (NNS) to ease the transition, you’ve got to kick them too. The problem is, sweeteners of any stripe are as crappy for your body as sugar, but in different ways.
Mar 20, 2023 · Gut Health9 Ways Your Microbiome Impacts Your Metabolism
Your gut bugs have more to do with your metabolism than you may realize –research shines a lot more light on how intertwined they may be.
Aug 1, 2022 · Gut Health7 Ways to Improve Your Skin through Your Gut
You know the old saying, the eyes are the windows to the soul. Maybe that’s true. But what researchers know for sure is that the skin is the window to what’s going on inside the body. What’s going on inside the gut, especially with the trillions of the bacteria that live there, often directly affects the skin. When the gut microbiome is out of synch with the rest of the body – a case of too few microbial strains or an overabundance of unfriendly strains – it often makes itself known in the form of common skin rashes, irritations and/or eruptions.
Jul 18, 2022 · Gut Health6 Smart Strategies to Combat Small Intestinal Fungal Overgrowth
Your belly is misbehaving. A lot. So what’s causing the trouble? There are any number of possible culprits, but one of the biggies that’s often overlooked is SIFO, or small intestinal fungal overgrowth, which, left unattended can make you unwell for quite a long time. So, instead of letting SIFO get the better of you, now’s the time get it on your radar – and learn what to do about it.
Apr 18, 2022 · Gut HealthMeet Your Good Gut Health-Making Trifecta: Pre, Pro and Postbiotics
Mealtime can be a force for good, provided you feed your gut – the bacteria inside your gut or the gut microbiome – with pre, pro and postbiotics.
Mar 28, 2022 · Gut Health17 Ways to Help Your Microbiome and Brain, Boost Mood, Reduce Anxiety and Support Mental Wellness
Recently, self-care has taken center stage as people look for ways to steady themselves and soothe their psyches. While movement, meditation and relaxation are essential for maintaining an even keel, if you’re eating poorly – think sugar, starchy foods, processed and junk foods – you’ll likely still wind up with slipping and dipping moods, in part because the trillions of multi-species bacteria that make up your gut microbiome aren’t getting enough of the nourishment they need to do their best work – and your brain suffers too. Simply put, food can make or break a big chunk of your mental health and have a powerful impact on mood.
Dec 6, 2021 · Gut HealthMake More Butyrate to Protect Gut and Brain Health Today!
Your gut microbiome houses certain types of bacteria which, when properly fed, produce powerful, health-supportive compounds like short chain fatty acids (SCFAs). One of the most well-studied SCFAs is butyrate – and it’s one you won’t want to leave home without. If you want your body to run well from head to toe, here’s the 411 on this essential compound that everyone can use a little more of – and how to get yours.
Nov 22, 2021 · Gut Health5 Things to Know About Cultivating Your Gut Diversity to Upgrade Your Health
When feeling well is the goal, it pays to focus on your gut microbiome, the trillions-strong community of bacteria whose job it is to keep you healthy. By now, you may be aware of your microbiome and the need to protect it. But, you may not know that microbial diversity – having lots of different, health-supportive strains of bacteria inside you – is another key element of a healthy gut, and a healthy body. What does microbial diversity do for you? How to protect it and how to enhance yours every day? Here are a few ways to do it.
Oct 4, 2021 · Gut HealthIf IBS Has Got You Down – an Imbalanced Microbiome May Be the (Very Fixable) Culprit
When it comes to gut troubles that make you feel especially lousy, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) ranks pretty high on the list. IBS is basically a vague catchall phrase that offers no insight into what’s actually causing the symptoms. The struggle, however, is very real – think abdominal pain, cramps, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, etc. So, what lies beneath all this gut misery, that afflicts roughly 25 - 45 million people in the US alone? In my three-plus decades of experience, I’ve found that one of the most common culprits is an imbalanced microbiome.
May 10, 2021 · Gut Health8 Ways Prebiotics Make Your Gut Health Soar
Probiotic foods help ‘seed’ the gut, adding beneficial bacteria, which helps keep ‘bad bacteria’ in check, aids digestion and keeps nutrient absorption humming. But, probiotics are only part of the story. There’s another ‘biotic’ in the gut-supportive mix, namely the less talked about prebiotics. These are plant fibers that feed the beneficial bacteria (like, for example, the lactobacilli and bifidobacteria) in the gut – and they are essential to your gut health.
May 3, 2021 · Gut HealthUnderstanding SIBO — 7 Things to Know If You’re Struggling With Gut Troubles
There are any number of belly-based ills that can make life very uncomfortable. Ailments like gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, IBS or all of the above can, in addition to making you feel lousy, interfere with your body’s ability to get nutrients to where they’re needed, negatively impact your mental and emotional well-being and set you up for serious health problems down the road. One possible underlying cause of all this unhappiness? SIBO, or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Trouble is, medical professionals often overlook it or misdiagnose it.
Apr 26, 2021 · Gut HealthThe Gut Sleep Connection: 15 Ways a Healthy Belly Helps Sleep
An out-of-rhythm lifestyle can throw off the gut and your sleep. And an out-of-rhythm gut can throw your entire life off-kilter – and screw up your sleep to boot. Conversely, good gut health can facilitate good sleep. So, the better you tend to your gut, the easier it will be to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Mar 29, 2021 · Gut Health13 Easy Ways to Upgrade Your Digestion Now
Digestion is one of those routine bodily processes you probably don’t pay much attention to. That is, until ills like bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation rear their ugly head. While some people just try to ride it out, frequent gastrointestinal distress isn’t ‘normal.’ Rather, it’s your body’s way of telling you that your digestion needs some TLC.
Mar 15, 2021 · Gut Health10 Essential Ways to Protect Your Gut Microbiome
A happy, trouble-free gut is the key to keeping your entire body healthy, and never more so than when we’re (still) in the midst of a pandemic. The stronger and more resilient your gut is – and the more harmoniously balanced the trillions of bacteria that live there -- the better your heart, brain, immune system and just about every other part of your body will function.
Feb 15, 2021 · Gut Health5 Ways the Gut Strengthens Immunity and Wellbeing
Even with vaccines starting to roll out, everyone still needs to keep focused on what they can do for their own immunity. With more easily spread mutations unloosed and clusters and spikes still to be battled through, it will be months before the world can truly breathe a sigh of relief, if we’re lucky. Until then, your best immunity defense – whether you’ve had the shots or not – is to keep your gut in tip-top shape: to feed it, care for it and tend it like your life depends on it because it does.
Oct 5, 2020 · Gut Health4 Ways A Healthy Microbiome Keeps You Young
So, if your goal is to slow down the aging process, there’s lots you can do to put the brakes on. One of the most important anti-aging moves you can make? Stopping inflammation. I’m talking about the fire that burns in cells throughout your body, wreaking enormous havoc and making you old and tired, and quite possibly sick, way before your time.
Aug 12, 2019 · Gut HealthHeal Your Gut with Fabulous Fermented Foods
Everyone talks about fermented foods and by now you probably know you need them to help keep your gut healthy. But, let’s be honest here, are you actually eating your fair share? If not, you’re missing out on one of Mother Nature’s easiest gut health hacks!
Jul 22, 2019 · Gut HealthHow to Heal Leaky Gut and Repair the Gut Lining
For a lot of my patients, especially those dealing with digestive and autoimmune problems, what stands between them and feeling great is an insidious but fixable problem we in the integrative health world call ‘leaky gut,’ or gut ‘permeability.’ If low-grade ills are dragging you down, leaky gut should probably be on your radar…