Improve Gut Health

and yet, some of us face greater challenges than others which can severely impact our quality of life, especially with regards to something as fundamental as ‘normal digestion’ function throughout the day. 

Gut health has so many different contributing factors: genetics, nervous system function (i.e. IBS, stress, etc.), intestinal tract health (i.e. leaky gut, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, autoimmune issues like Crohn’s) preventing absorption, invaders creating infection, imbalance and dysbiosis (i.e. parasites, worms, amoebas, h. pylori, candida, SIBO, etc. – MAKE NO MISTAKE, we ALL have parasites, worms and amoebas in our bodies, being in a first world country does not automatically immunize us from this. Otherwise we would never have to ‘worm our pets’ which are also mammals, just like us). Bacteria and viruses also wreak havoc on our digestive health.  

All these things contribute to our microbiome and its ability to function properly – particularly taking in nutrients, converting and delivering them in the correct forms to the proper areas of the body that need these building blocks to optimize life and health for us each and every day. One important piece of the puzzle is ensuring your gut’s environment (microbiome) has enough of the ‘good guys’ so the bad guys aren’t taking over and wreaking havoc on your balance, absorption and basic processing functions. 

I, Jamie Hope, founder of Methyl-Life™ have struggled with gut health most of my life and over the many years have tried MANY, MANY different probiotic products, even suppository probiotics from Europe. No other probiotic worked half as well for helping balance my gut’s microbiome than the spore-based Bacillus strains we’re recommending. In fact I went many years not selling any probiotics because I couldn’t find one that worked well enough to promote. 

I don’t think probiotics replace treating for parasites or other intestinal tract issues, but in combination (when necessary) they really can help become a big part of your gut’s healing. These strains will definitely make their way down to the right places in your gut and can survive even in the wake of antibiotic treatment (note: the RestorFlora™ is great for taking along with and just following antibiotics). Personally I like to take one capsule of both the MegaSporeBiotic™ and RestorFlora™ products each day to get the most affordable daily dose as well as getting some additional diversity with the strains. The Mega SporeBiotic™ product is definitely the heavy lifter in terms of affecting the gut’s microbiome in a real way.

Other than probiotics, it’s worth noting that your gut contains over 80% of your body’s serotonin, so that means if you’re low on serotonin, you’re likely going to have gut issues. For some it’s slow motility (therefore constipation), for others it’s an over anxious nervous system that’s prone to either diarrhea or constipation. If you get the right amount of serotonin in your body, you’ll often find that some unexplained gut issues tend to simply go away. One natural way you can increase your body’s serotonin levels is by taking L-Methylfolate which boosts SAMe which in turn increases your body’s serotonin levels.  

Quick personal note:  I had my serotonin level tested before starting a methylfolate and active B12 regimen, my result was 85 (normal range for the test was 125-185), 3 months later after taking 5 mg of L-Methylfolate and 5 mg of active B12 each day, I had my level tested again and they came back at 136 – and my IBS symptoms began to melt away over time.  It really was quite an amazing transformation for me, a slow but steady healing.  

So B12 is another important nutrient to take along with the L-Methylfolate in terms of gut soothing – it can contribute to the SAMe pathway which produces the necessary serotonin, especially when taken together.  It’s worth noting that hydroxocobalamin is the most well-tolerated form of ‘active B12’. BUT … you definitely want to stay away from cyanocobalamin – it’s the cheap, synthetic version of B12 that must go through many complex conversions in the body before it can become absorbed and usable by the cells, and many people can’t do these conversions because of other genetic mutations like MTR or MTRR.  So stick with an active form of B12 that is already converted so your body doesn’t need to do the heavy lifting that it may not even be able to do.  

Active B12 forms are:  

• Hydroxocobalamin (rare, expensive, most well-tolerated and used for pernicious anemia among other things)
• Adenosylcobalamin (rare, expensive and often used in muscle recovery)
• Methylcobalamin (more readily available and found in more supplements these days, however, often not as well tolerated by everyone). 

NOTE:  Be sure to get a product that allows you to hold the B12 under your tongue as sublingual is the best way to get good absorption with an oral B12 – it does NOT absorb well through the gut.  

Get more details on what’s the best form of B12 for you to take.

So let’s determine the specific methylation protocol and nutrients you may want to consider for improving your gut health. Click the button below to get your recommendation.