Podcasts about most influential pharmacists

Can one molecule preserve muscle, protect kidneys, and supercharge metabolism? In this episode of Healthy Choices, Dr. Jim LaValle joins Ray Solano to dive into OSO1—a next-gen therapeutic with wide-ranging benefits. From boosting AMPK to supporting mitochondria, OSO1 shows promise for everything from athletic recovery to age-related decline. Whether you're dealing with muscle loss or chasing peak performance, this episode is a game-changer. ---- In this episode of Healthy Choices, I sit down with Dr. Jim LaValle to talk about a breakthrough small molecule compound called OSO1. This isn't your typical supplement—it's a targeted therapeutic that supports your body's natural repair systems without relying on stimulants. We dive into how OSO1 helps preserve lean muscle, improve mitochondrial function, support glucose transport, and reduce inflammation—especially important for those on GLP-1 medications or dealing with age-related muscle loss. Dr. LaValle even shares how he uses OSO1 personally and why he sees it as a smarter, safer alternative to drugs like rapamycin. ---- Jim LaValle is a leading integrative and metabolic health expert with over 35 years of experience. He's treated thousands of patients—from elite athletes to those with chronic conditions—through his Metabolic Model for Health and founded the Metabolic Code platform to personalize care using lab data and lifestyle insights. He's been a consultant for top health brands, directed programs for the NFL Hall of Fame, and educated military special forces. A clinical instructor at George Washington University and award-winning educator, LaValle has authored 20+ books, made 1,000+ media appearances, and is recognized as one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists. ---- Website: https://www.jimlavalle.com Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-lavalle-1a6b8858/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealjimlavalle/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Jim-LaValle-100062990514032/ ---- https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-solano-76960463 https://www.instagram.com/pdlabs/ https://open.spotify.com/show/78tLVSbC28VnDbpw2SqiEg https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/healthy-choices/id1203354304 https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-healthy-choices-31040306/ ---- PODCAST Thank you for listening. Please subscribe and share. This podcast is produced by DrTalks.com drtalks.com/podcast-service/

Dr. Ross Pelton is the Director of Science & Education for Essential Formulas Incorporated, which specializes in premium probiotic products. Ross is also a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, and the author of 12 books. In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist Magazine for his work in natural medicine. Ross is also The Natural Pharmacist. His personal website, bio & blog are at: www.natural pharmacist.net.  Dr. Pelton joins us today to discuss “Winterizing Your Health”. Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics – Natural Grocers, Sprouts, Whole Foods and fine natural health retailers across the US.  Also available online.Learn more about Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics, Reg'Activ, and Dr. Ohhira's Skin Care LineHelpful Research Articles:Booklet: Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics & Postbiotic MetabolitesPostbiotic Metabolites: The New Frontier in Microbiome Science.The Microbiome Theory of Aging, which was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Integrative Medicine.

Guest: Dr. Ross Pelton is the Director of Science & Education for Essential Formulas Incorporated, which specializes in premium probiotic products. Ross is also a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, and the author of 12 books. In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist Magazine for his work in natural medicine. Ross is also The Natural Pharmacist. His personal website, bio & blog are at:  www.naturalpharmacist.net.  Dr. Pelton joins us today to discuss his newly published article: “The Microbiome Theory of Aging”.Dr. Pelton recently wrote a paper titled The Glutathione Theory of Aging. Glutathione levels are now a recognized biomarker of aging. Boosting glutathione levels is one of the most proactive steps people can take to improve their health and achieve healthy longevity.Glutathione is a molecule that contains three amino acids, which are glutamate, cysteine and glycine and it is classified as a tripeptide.Glutathione has multiple features that make it unique and important. Let's start by discussing glutathione's antioxidant activity. Glutathione's molecular structure enables it to be a very powerful and versatile antioxidant. However, glutathione is also part of several very important antioxidant enzymes including glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and a large group of enzymes known as glutathione transferases. These enzymes help in the continual process of “squelching” free-radicals or “oxidants” that destabilize cells and lead to their decay or premature aging and cellular death.Reg'Activ products are available online or visit www.essentialformulas.com for more information and a retailer near you.

In this episode of The Root Cause Medicine Podcast, we discuss food intolerances, food allergies, and gut health. They dive into: 1. Food Issues Symptoms 2. Food Allergy Versus Food Sensitivity 3. How Food Affects Your Intestines Dr. James LaValle is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board-certified clinical nutritionist, educator in integrative and precision health, and founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises. He has over thirty-five years of experience integrating natural and integrative therapies into various medical and business models. Dr. LaValle has also authored sixteen e-books and twenty books, was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine, and was one of only nine Americans selected to serve under Senator Harkin to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau.

 Guest: Dr. Ross Pelton is the Director of Science & Education for Essential Formulas Incorporated, which specializes in premium probiotic products. Ross is also a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, and the author of 12 books. In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist Magazine for his work in natural medicine. Ross is also The Natural Pharmacist. His personal website, bio & blog are at: www.naturalpharmacist.net.  Dr. Pelton joins us today to discuss his newly published article: “The Microbiome Theory of Aging”.Dr. Pelton recently wrote a paper titled The Glutathione Theory of Aging. Glutathione levels are now a recognized biomarker of aging. Boosting glutathione levels is one of the most proactive steps people can take to improve their health and achieve healthy longevity.Glutathione is a molecule that contains three amino acids, which are glutamate, cysteine and glycine and it is classified as a tripeptide.Glutathione has multiple features that make it unique and important. Let's start by discussing glutathione's antioxidant activity. Glutathione's molecular structure enables it to be a very powerful and versatile antioxidant. However, glutathione is also part of several very important antioxidant enzymes including glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and a large group of enzymes known as glutathione transferases. These enzymes help in the continual process of “squelching” free-radicals or “oxidants” that destabilize cells and lead to their decay or premature aging and cellular death.Learn more about Dr. Pelton Learn more about Reg'Activ and ME3Reg'Activ products are available online or visit www.essentialformulas.com for more information and a retailer near you. 

We discussed the microbiome and the immune system with Dr. Ross Pelton who is a pharmacist, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, health educator, and the author of 12 books (scroll to the bottom of The Natural Pharmacist for some of them). In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist Magazine for his work in natural medicine. He mentioned his article: “The Microbiome Theory of Aging”. Dr. Pelton is the Director of Science & Education for Essential Formulas Incorporated which specializes in premium probiotic products such as Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics. Click the title for a FREE copy of Dr. Pelton's e-book ”Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics & Postbiotic Metabolites: The New Frontier in Microbiome Science.” Link to the Reg' Activ products containing the glutathione-producing probiotic, ME-3. We briefly discussed his anti-aging breakthrough book, Rapamycin, mTOR, Autophagy & Treating mTOR Syndrome.  

Dr. Ross Pelton is the Director of Science & Education for Essential Formulas Inc. which specializes in premiumprobiotic products. Ross is also a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, and the author of 12 books. In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist Magazine for his work in natural medicine. Ross is also The Natural Pharmacist. His personal website, bio & blog are at: www.naturalpharmacist.net. Dr. Pelton joins us today to discuss his newly published article: “The Microbiome Theory of Aging”. Learn more about Dr. PeltonFree e-Book 

Dr. Ross Pelton is a pharmacist, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, health educator, and the author of 12 books (scroll to the bottom of The Natural Pharmacist for links to some of them). In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist Magazine for his work in natural medicine. Dr. Pelton joined us to discuss his new published article: “The Microbiome Theory of Aging”. Dr. Pelton is the Director of Science & Education for Essential Formulas Incorporated which specializes in premium probiotic products such as Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics. Click this title for a FREE copy of Dr. Pelton's e-book ”Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics & Postbiotic Metabolites: The New Frontier in Microbiome Science.” The power of Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics for reducing fatigue was demonstrated in a scientific study. Check out this illustration of Intestinal Permeability (“Leaky Gut”). For an in-depth discussion of probiotics and a guide to natural treatments for many health issues, read my book, *The Probiotic Cure: Harnessing the Power of Good Bacteria for Better Health”  

Healthy aging has become a key focus among many integrative practitioners and their patients. In this interview, Registered Pharmacist and Certified Clinical Nutritionist Ross Pelton describes a paper he recently had published in Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal. Ross describes the science behind the microbiome theory of aging and how this can be applied to clinical practice. About the Expert Ross Pelton, RPh, CCN, is Essential Formula's director of science, in addition to being a practicing pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, and health educator in Southern Oregon. Pelton earned his bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin. A certified clinical nutritionist, Pelton was named as 1 of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Pelton teaches continuing education programs for healthcare professionals to use natural medicine and integrate it into their practices. He also has authored numerous books, including The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook, which is a gold-standard reference book for health practitioners. About the Sponsor Essential Formulas Incorporated (EFI) was established in 2000 as the sole US distributor of world-renowned microbiologist Dr. Iichiroh Ohhira's award-winning probiotic dietary supplements and skin care products. Always an innovator, EFI introduced REG'ACTIV in 2015, containing ME-3, a probiotic catalyst that produces the “master'” oxidant glutathione inside the body's cells. A family-owned and operated business, EFI was founded on the philosophy of providing high-quality preventative, supportive, and comprehensive pro-health products for the entire family. EFI continues to flourish and grow through a strong company and product integrity and the knowledge that they're providing scientifically proven products that positively impact the health and well-being of their customers.

James B. LaValle, R.Ph., C.C.N. M.T. DHM, DHPh., is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, and board-certified clinical nutritionist, with over 35 years of clinical experience. LaValle is best known for his expertise in performance health and integrative care with personally seeing thousands of clients over the years. He has an extensive background in natural products, lifestyle, drug/nutrient depletion, and uncovering the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from feeling healthy and vital. He has developed programs for several industries including fitness, professional sports teams and health care companies. Most recently Jim was appointed the Clinical Director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Performance Health Program.   He taught for 15 years as an appointed adjunct faculty member at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy pioneering the course “Survey of Natural Medicine”, served as faculty at the College of Medicine at U.C. all the while serving as a preceptorship for both physicians and pharmacy students.   He is the founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, a cloud-based assessment tool that helps to pinpoint where the metabolic roadblocks are to person's health based on their symptom survey, lab markers, biometric and wearable data. The tool helps prioritize care for individuals using a point system to indicate areas of metabolism that are the most out of balance. The platform provides suggestions for dietary supplements, diet and other targeted lifestyle suggestions with the goal of building metabolic reserve, resiliency and vitality.   In 2010, Jim developed personalized weight loss and wellness programs for LifeTime Fitness using his Metabolic Code approach for health and wellness. He and his team have also developed performance health programs for professional sports car racing, football, baseball, basketball, soccer and hockey players and teams, along with Olympic athletes. LaValle gained national recognition as National Clinician of the Year in 2012 by the Natural Products Association for his pioneering work in furthering the professional standards of integrative care. And in 2017 as Educator of the Year for American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.   He is an appointed faculty member for the Integrative Medicine postgraduate program at George Washington University School of Health Sciences. As the Clinical Co-Chair at the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, he has trained thousands of health care professionals on the value of predictive health and performance and modeling health care practices to incorporate lifestyle, diet and natural therapies as part of the health equation for Americans.   He is author of more than 20 books including, “Cracking the Metabolic Code,” “Nutritional Cost of Drugs,” and his latest book, “Your Blood Never Lies”. In addition, he has authored 16 e-Books and four databases with information on a variety of topics, ranging from natural therapeutic decision tools, herb drug interactions, drug induced nutrient depletion, and professional monographs on 240 vitamin, mineral, nutraceutical and herbal compounds. He has also authored 200 articles, as well as being published in peer reviewed literature.   Jim was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine and was one of nine Americans selected by Senator Tom Harkin, to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau. As such, he is often called on by media for interviews on a variety of health topics due to his expertise and engaging style.

Dr. Ross Pelton is the Director of Science & Education for Essential FormulasIncorporated which specializes in premium probiotic products. Ross is also apharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, the author of 12 books.In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist Magazine for his work in natural medicine. Ross is also The Natural Pharmacist.  Dr. Pelton joins us today to discuss What Happens When You Start Taking Probiotics.FREE PDF COPY: NEW BOOKDr. Ohhira's Probiotics & Postbiotic Metabolites

The Root Cause Medicine Podcast is created by Rupa Health, the best way to order, track & get results from 30+ lab companies in one place. In today's episode, Dr. Carrie Jones is joined by Dr. James LaValle, Author, Board-Certified Clinical Nutritionist, and Educator. They discuss food intolerances, food allergies, and gut health. Key Takeaways from this episode: 1. Food Issues Symptoms: Food is the most significant thing that drives your health. Besides the obvious signs of food conditions, there are symptoms like anxiety, mood disorders, weight gain, joint and muscle discomfort, cardiovascular disease, cognitive function issues, and fatigue. 2. Food Allergy Versus Food Sensitivity: An allergy represents a hypersensitivity reaction that could be life-threatening. When you get an allergic reaction, your airways shut down, you wheeze, get hives, and have itchy skin. Food sensitivity takes longer before it manifests, you may not even see the reaction to the food for up to seventy-two hours after you have eaten it. A sensitivity reaction will not be as dramatic, but initial signs of issues include reactions in your gut, immune system, and other parts of your body. 3. How Food Affects Your Intestines. Your intestine has a lining of epithelial cells which are only one cell layer deep. In between these cells, there is something called tight junctions, which are responsible for absorption. Any food can change the epithelial cells of your intestines and disrupt tight junctions. As a result, you either start getting bacteria that get into the circulation and create an immune system response, or the foods aren't getting broken down. So when your gut barrier loses its integrity, you start to react to certain foods. Dr. James LaValle is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board-certified clinical nutritionist, educator in integrative and precision health, and founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises. He has over thirty-five years of experience integrating natural and integrative therapies into various medical and business models. Dr. LaValle has also authored sixteen e-books and twenty books, was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine, and was one of only nine Americans selected to serve under Senator Harkin to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau.

 Dr. Ross Pelton is a Microbiome Scientist and the Scientific Director for EssentialFormulas Incorporated which specializes in premium probiotic products. Ross is also apharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, the author of 12 books. In October 1999,Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by AmericanDruggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Ross is also The Natural Pharmacist.His personal website, bio & blog are at: www.naturalpharmacist.net.Dr. Pelton joined us to discuss The Unique World of Multitasking Supplements. CLICK HERE FOR A FREE COPY:NEW BOOK /Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics & Postbiotic Metabolite

The most common nutritional deficiency in America, and increasingly worldwide, is the malnourished microbiome. If the microbiome is not well nourished, pathogens are allowed to grow. We all harbor some pathogens, but they are not harmful when they only exist in small numbers. When pathogens proliferate, they can cause a wide range of symptoms such as gas, bloating, inflammation, pain, diarrhea, and/or constipation. Collectively, these symptoms are referred to as dysbiosis, which is also known as intestinal permeability.Dr. Ross Pelton is the Scientific Director for Essential Formulas, and a microbiome scientist. Essential Formulas specializes in premium probiotics. Ross is also a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, the author of 12 books. In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Listeners can get a FREE pdf copy of a small book titled Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics and & Postbiotic Metabolites.   www.naturalpharmacist.net/ohhirabook

We have a great show planned for you today and will share The Importance of DIVERSITY for a Healthy Gut.Dr. Ross Pelton is the Scientific Director for Essential Formulas, and a microbiome scientist. Essential Formulas specializes in premium probiotics. Ross is also a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, the author of 12 books. In October 1999, Ross was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Listeners can get a FREE pdf copy of a small book titled Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics and & Postbiotic Metabolites.   www.naturalpharmacist.net/ohhirabook

From reducing household toxin levels to increasing organic fruits and veggies, there are nine keys to optimal health. I'm joined by Dr. Jim LaValle, an integrative practitioner specializing in drug and nutrient depletion, to talk about improving our health from a metabolic level.   How to Get the Most from Your Food Pick the best food you can Chew slowly and thoroughly  Cook your food in safer ways   About Dr. Jim LaValle Dr. Jim LaValle is best known for his expertise in personalized integrative therapies uncovering the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from feeling healthy and vital. A thought leader in drug/nutrient depletion issues he has published 4 books and 3 databases in this area alone. As such he has over 35 years' experience integrating natural and integrative therapies into various medical and business models. His latest research is in drug-induced microbiome disruption.  He is the founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, Inc., which has launched the cloud-based Metabolic Code which helps practitioners and consumers identity their metabotype through labs, subjective surveys, evaluation of drug-induced nutrient depletion, and biometrics.  Dr. LaValle also founded Integrative Health Resources, which is focused on natural products industry consulting. As a practitioner for over 35 years, James has been recognized as an industry leader, receiving the prestigious Natural Products Association Clinician of the Year Award in 2011 for furthering the advancement of Integrative Medicine in the United States.  He was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine and was one of only nine Americans selected to serve under Senator Harkin to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau. Jim is a favorite interviewee for the media related to natural care and has done well over 1000 media appearances on T.V. and radio. Other Industry Highlights include a venture in 2010 with Life Time Fitness, the largest publicly traded fitness company in the US (NASDAQ: LTM), providing nutrition and metabolism expertise and developing Life Time's national nutrition education, protocol design, and product development initiatives related to weight loss and prevention. This entailed educating close to 2700 fitness trainers, 20 dieticians and reaching some 1.2 million Life Time fitness members.  LaValle also served as the nutrition correspondent for Body Shaping, the number one fitness show on ESPN II in the late 1990s. Jim has been a lead consultant with companies such as Bayer, CVS, Rite Aid, P&G, Helsin, Thorn Research amongst others.   Quotes “If we just focus on the one person sitting in front of your to change their life, it can go to millions of lives.” [7:05] “The number one cause of plaquing of your arteries is actually inappropriate glucose response after a meal.” [10:32] “If people are deficient in nutrients, their liver can't perform what it's supposed to perform.” [25:33] “The big thing is to oxygenate or die. We need to get that air in us. We need to utilize oxygen. If you're inactive and sitting a lot, get out there and walk.” [48:43] “Create choices that allow for a lifestyle and not out of restriction. When we restrict and limit things, we typically want to break out of the box we've created for ourselves. So why not create things that are based on your free will and empowerment.” [54:11]   In This Episode What happens when your adrenals come under stress [9:15] The top supplements for adrenal and thyroid health [12:45] Why we need to make sure we're eating a variety of nutrients every day [25:00] The problem with acidic urine [27:30] How to reduce household toxins [30:00] Why it's important for us to raise our oxygen levels [48:30]   Links & Resources Use Code BERBERINE for 10% Off Read The Magnificence Of Magnesium and Use Code MAGNESIUM for 10% Off Find Dr. Jim LaValle Online Follow Dr. Jim LaValle on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Find Your Longevity Blueprint Online Follow Your Longevity Blueprint on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn Get your copy of the Your Longevity Blueprint book and claim your bonuses here Find Dr. Stephanie Gray and Your Longevity Blueprint online    Follow Dr. Stephanie Gray on Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Twitter | LinkedIn Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic Podcast Production by the team at Counterweight Creative    Related Episodes Episode 67: A Different Kind Of Healing With Dr. Shiroko Sokitch Episode 64: Heal Your Emotional Eating With Tricia Nelson Episode 58: Living Intentionally With The Fat Burning Man Abel James

Of course, we know the value of diversity of people. However, most of us are not aware that diversity of microbes in the gut is critical for health. We'll learn what that means, why it is true, and how to achieve that diversity. Dr. Ross Pelton is a pharmacist, board-certified clinical nutritionist, health educator, the author of 12 books and a microbiome scientist. He was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Dr. Pelton is the Scientific Director for Essential Formulas, which specializes in premium probiotics. Click this title for a FREE copy of Dr. Pelton's e-book, ”Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics & Postbiotic Metabolites: The New Frontier in Microbiome Science.” My books were mentioned: Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagament, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments Paperback and The Probiotic Cure: Harnessing the Power of Good Bacteria for Better Health Paperback Coming soon: I will interview Peter McCullough, MD and his co-author, John Leake, about their exciting new book, THE COURAGE TO FACE COVID-19: Preventing Hospitalization and Death While Battling the Bio-Pharmaceutical Complex  

Working Out with one of the Most Influential Pharmacists in America Dr. Robin Barnett, PharmD. Dr. Robin Barnett, PharmD is fondly known as Dr. Robin B. Dr. Robin B is a PharmD graduate of Loma Linda University with a B.S. in Biology at Syracuse University and background in entrepreneurship as a business owner. Robin has vast expertise in the pharmacy industry and unique knowledge in creating content for digital platforms and is one of the most influential pharmacists on Instagram with more than 450K followers. She also has a passion for community service which is evident through the various initiatives she has implemented in her local community dating back 15 years. Over the years she has not only attracted a dedicated fan-base, but also a well-known network of influential individuals through social media as a health and beauty influencer. Dr. Barrett is a podcaster on her show called the Dose Show and has recently released a interactive fitness app --Dr. Robin B, the PlayBook: https://my.playbookapp.io/dr-robin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Working Out with one of the Most Influential Pharmacists in America Dr. Robin Barnett, PharmD. Dr. Robin Barnett, PharmD is fondly known as Dr. Robin B. Dr. Robin B is a PharmD graduate of Loma Linda University with a B.S. in Biology at Syracuse University and background in entrepreneurship as a business owner. Robin has vast expertise in the pharmacy industry and unique knowledge in creating content for digital platforms and is one of the most influential pharmacists on Instagram with more than 450K followers. She also has a passion for community service which is evident through the various initiatives she has implemented in her local community dating back 15 years. Over the years she has not only attracted a dedicated fan-base, but also a well-known network of influential individuals through social media as a health and beauty influencer. Dr. Barrett is a podcaster on her show called the Dose Show and has recently released a interactive fitness app --Dr. Robin B, the PlayBook: https://my.playbookapp.io/dr-robin Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From reducing household toxin levels to increasing organic fruits and veggies, there are nine keys to optimal health. I'm joined by Dr. Jim LaValle, an integrative practitioner specializing in drug and nutrient depletion, to talk about improving our health from a metabolic level.   How to Get the Most from Your Food Pick the best food you can Chew slowly and thoroughly  Cook your food in safer ways   About Dr. Jim LaValle Dr. Jim LaValle is best known for his expertise in personalized integrative therapies uncovering the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from feeling healthy and vital. A thought leader in drug/nutrient depletion issues he has published 4 books and 3 databases in this area alone. As such he has over 35 years' experience integrating natural and integrative therapies into various medical and business models. His latest research is in drug-induced microbiome disruption.  He is the founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, Inc., which has launched the cloud-based Metabolic Code which helps practitioners and consumers identity their metabotype through labs, subjective surveys, evaluation of drug-induced nutrient depletion, and biometrics.  Dr. LaValle also founded Integrative Health Resources, which is focused on natural products industry consulting. As a practitioner for over 35 years, James has been recognized as an industry leader, receiving the prestigious Natural Products Association Clinician of the Year Award in 2011 for furthering the advancement of Integrative Medicine in the United States.  He was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine and was one of only nine Americans selected to serve under Senator Harkin to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau. Jim is a favorite interviewee for the media related to natural care and has done well over 1000 media appearances on T.V. and radio. Other Industry Highlights include a venture in 2010 with Life Time Fitness, the largest publicly traded fitness company in the US (NASDAQ: LTM), providing nutrition and metabolism expertise and developing Life Time's national nutrition education, protocol design, and product development initiatives related to weight loss and prevention. This entailed educating close to 2700 fitness trainers, 20 dieticians and reaching some 1.2 million Life Time fitness members.  LaValle also served as the nutrition correspondent for Body Shaping, the number one fitness show on ESPN II in the late 1990s. Jim has been a lead consultant with companies such as Bayer, CVS, Rite Aid, P&G, Helsin, Thorn Research amongst others.   The Nine Keys to Optimal Health Dr. Jim LaValle joins me to talk about the nine keys to optimal health. We focus a lot on improving our hormone function and reducing toxin levels in the house - two major keys when it comes to your health. Dr. LaValle explains what happens when our adrenals come under intense stress. The impact this has on our body causes a whole host of hormonal issues that affect so many different parts of our health. He shares some of the ways to reduce adrenal stress. Supplements are one of the best ways to improve your adrenal health, as well as your thyroid, blood, and other health markers. But it's not just about supplementing, Dr. LaValle says you need to improve other lifestyle factors to see a true health benefit.   Clean Veggies and Clean Homes Dr. LaValle stresses the importance of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables every day. Few people in the US eat enough servings of clean fruit and vegetables to have the best impact on their health. He shares some other ways to increase our consumption without eating 12+ cups of veg a day. We also talk about how our body tells us that we have underlying health problems. Acidic urine is a common problem that can help a practitioner diagnose some greater issues, including ones linked to your liver health. Finally, Dr. LaValle talks about reducing toxins in the house to have a drastic improvement in your health. This and increasing your oxygen consumption is the best thing you can do to create positive health changes in your life. Lower household toxins will also improve your oxygen levels as you won't be breathing in all those chemicals. What changes can you make today to reduce your household toxins? Do you eat enough clean and toxin-free fruits and veggies? Let me know your favorite vegetables and cleaning products in the comments on the episode page. Call the Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic today and schedule your first appointment at 319-363-0033.   Quotes “If we just focus on the one person sitting in front of your to change their life, it can go to millions of lives.” [7:05] “The number one cause of plaquing of your arteries is actually inappropriate glucose response after a meal.” [10:32] “If people are deficient in nutrients, their liver can't perform what it's supposed to perform.” [25:33] “The big thing is to oxygenate or die. We need to get that air in us. We need to utilize oxygen. If you're inactive and sitting a lot, get out there and walk.” [48:43] “Create choices that allow for a lifestyle and not out of restriction. When we restrict and limit things, we typically want to break out of the box we've created for ourselves. So why not create things that are based on your free will and empowerment.” [54:11]   In This Episode What happens when your adrenals come under stress [9:15] The top supplements for adrenal and thyroid health [12:45] Why we need to make sure we're eating a variety of nutrients every day [25:00] The problem with acidic urine [27:30] How to reduce household toxins [30:00] Why it's important for us to raise our oxygen levels [48:30]   Links & Resources Use Code BERBERINE for 10% Off Read The Magnificence Of Magnesium and Use Code MAGNESIUM for 10% Off Find Dr. Jim LaValle Online Follow Dr. Jim LaValle on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Find Your Longevity Blueprint Online Follow Your Longevity Blueprint on Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn Get your copy of the Your Longevity Blueprint book and claim your bonuses here Find Dr. Stephanie Gray and Your Longevity Blueprint online    Follow Dr. Stephanie Gray on Facebook | Instagram | Youtube | Twitter | LinkedIn Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic Podcast Production by the team at Counterweight Creative    Related Episodes Episode 67: A Different Kind Of Healing With Dr. Shiroko Sokitch Episode 64: Heal Your Emotional Eating With Tricia Nelson Episode 58: Living Intentionally With The Fat Burning Man Abel James

Health Expert and Master Educator, Dr. Ross Pelton is a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, and health educator. Ross has authored numerous books and for decades, he has taught continuing education programs that help healthcare professionals utilize and integrate natural medicine into their practices. Dr. Pelton, who is also known as The Natural Pharmacist,  was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine  for his work in natural medicine. In 2014, Ross left pharmacy and joined Essential Formulas as their Scientific Director,  which is a career shift that has enabled Ross to become a Microbiome Scientist. Dr. Pelton is passionate about providing health information for everyone's personal journey  “to get  well and live well”.  Today's interview is “Skin Dysbiosis: How to Protect Your Skin Microbiome”.www.Essentialformulas.com 

The two most fundamental aspects of your health are diet and exercise. But chronic exposure to stress, sleep deprivation, sedentary behavior, and processed food are causing metabolic dysfunction in your body. Jim Lavalle, an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, nutrition expert, and founder of the Metabolic Code®, is here to shed some light on the underlying metabolic issues that stop people from feeling healthy. Your body is constantly working as a complete metabolic system, signaling and telling your body what to do. When it gets out of whack, it can cause serious health issues. Tune in to episode #177 of the Escape Your Limits podcast to learn all about how you can reach optimum levels of health and vitality, manage your stress hormones, avoid stress fractures, strengthen your immune system, and age better. Please welcome Jim Lavalle to the Escape Your Limits podcast.   For more information visit https://escapefitness.com/podcast Video version – https://youtu.be/Zgy44D0RgdA   Jim Lavalle is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, nutrition expert, and founder of LaValle Metabolic Institute. He is best known for his expertise in metabolic and personalized integrative medicine and therapies. Has an extensive background in natural products, drug/nutrient depletion, and the underlying metabolic issues that stop people from feeling healthy. The author of more than 20 books, including, “Your Blood Never Lies,” “Cracking the Metabolic Code,” and “Nutritional Cost of Drugs.” Jim Lavalle was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine. He has also developed health programs for the fitness industry (healthcare and professional sports teams) such as Orlando Magic, Chicago Blackhawks, and the Anaheim Ducks – to name a few. He has trained thousands of health care professionals on the value of predictive health. Jim is an appointed faculty member and course educator for the Integrative Medicine postgraduate program at George Washington University School of medicine. Previously, he was a correspondent on ESPN2’s No. 1 rated “BodyShaping” fitness program. Visit www.jimlavalle.com to learn more about the underlying metabolic issues that stop you from feeling healthy.   Episode highlights People deserve vitality at every stage in life. It isn’t how hard you train. It’s how well you rest. 78% of the US population is overweight. You can’t put a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. If you’re getting stress fractures, you’re overtraining. The more muscle you hold as you age, the better your metabolism will be. If your resting heart rate is 10% above average, you probably need a day off. Your immune system is the center of your aging process. Join Matthew Januszek in conversation with Jim Lavalle.

Today we have a great episode planned and will talk Important Health & Wellness Protocols for 2021, with Health Expert and Master Educator, Dr. Ross Pelton. Dr. Pelton is a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, and health educator. Ross has authored numerous books and for decades, he has taught continuing education programs that help healthcare professionals utilize and integrate natural medicine into their practices. Dr. Pelton, who is also known as The Natural Pharmacist, was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. In 2014, Ross left pharmacy and joined Essential Formulas as their Scientific Director, which is a career shift that has enabled Ross to become a Microbiome Scientist. www.Essentialformulas.com

Today we have a great show planned and will talk “Food without Labels” The importance of whole foods & diversity of fiber rich foods to your health. Health Expert and Master Educator, Dr. Ross Pelton, R.Ph, CCN is a pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, health educator, and Scientific Advisor for Essential Formulas Inc. residing in Southern Oregon. Dr. Pelton was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. www.Americasnaturaldoctor.com

On this episode, pharmacist, nutritionists, author, and health educator, Ross Pelton, discusses his comprehensive strategy to support and enhance viral immunity. In addition to making the connection between the gut microbiome and the immune system, Pelton talks about diet, lifestyle, and dietary supplements that have been shown to support a healthy gut microbiome. He also discusses probiotic research, dosage, and why multistrain combinations are effective. About the Expert Ross Pelton, RPh, CCN, is Essential Formula's director of science, in addition to being a practicing pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, and health educator in Southern Oregon. Pelton earned his bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin. A certified clinical nutritionist, Pelton was named as 1 of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Pelton teaches continuing education programs for healthcare professionals to use natural medicine and integrate it into their practices. He also has authored numerous books, including The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook, which is a gold-standard reference book for health practitioners. About the Sponsor Essential Formulas Incorporated (EFI) was established in 2000 as the sole US distributor of world-renowned microbiologist Dr. Iichiroh Ohhira’s award-winning probiotic dietary supplements and skin care products. Always an innovator, EFI introduced REG’ACTIV in 2015, containing ME-3, a probiotic catalyst that produces the “master’” oxidant glutathione inside the body's cells. A family-owned and operated business, EFI was founded on the philosophy of providing high-quality preventative, supportive, and comprehensive pro-health products for the entire family. EFI continues to flourish and grow through a strong company and product integrity and the knowledge that they’re providing scientifically proven products that positively impact the health and well-being of their customers.  

Okay, we’re gonna power down on the technical side of self-care this week, in this amazing interview with Dr. James Lavalle, arguably one of the top experts on supplements. Because I honestly want to know—do they really work? Or are they just fluff? But first, I begin with my essay, Ten Meditation Tips for Extremely Busy Women. I wrote this a few years back when I really got that it’s impossible for some of us to slow the heck down. And, as usual, that begins with me. So here’s what I learned…. In talking to Dr. Lavalle, I was blown away by the depth of his knowledge. He is the real deal, ladies. And he has a lot to say about optimizing women’s health. (Also, I do want to remind all listeners to check in with your own physician before beginning any course of supplements, just to be safe.) Here’s what I learned: The biggest myths around supplements What is the correct way to determine which ones you need The truth about how botanicals interact with prescription medications Women’s greatest health challenges The perfect blend of supplements we all need … and why The myth around green drinks What nutrients are often depleted by your meds and why … Enjoy my friends! So glad you are here! RESOURCES Dr Jim LaValle’s books: Cracking the Metabolic Code Your Blood Never Lies Kyolic Aged Garlic Extract CoQ10 MultiVitamins Metagenics Phytomulti Supplement NuMedica Multi-Medica for Women Designs for Health Twice Daily Multi Vitamin Now Full Spectrum Mineral Caps (Please note: the following products were selected by Suzanne) For Sleep and Anxiety Melatonin Spray Theanine Chewables Reduce Cravings Relora 300 mg MORE ABOUT DR. JAMES LAVALLE James LaValle, is a nationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board certified clinical nutritionist, founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, Inc., a web platform and practice solution enterprise, launching AIR Support and the Metabolic Code Assessment. He is author of 16 e books and 20 books including the most recently released, Your Blood Never Lies, as well as his best seller, Cracking the Metabolic Code, along with Smart Medicine for Healthier Living, Nutritional Cost of Drugs and The Cox 2 Connection. He was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine and was one of only nine Americans selected to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau. LaValle served as the nutrition correspondent for Body Shaping, the number one fitness show on ESPN II in the late 1990’s. Jim is a favorite interviewee for the media related to natural care, and has done well over 500 media appearances in T.V. and radio.

Natural Pharmacist Ross Pelton rejoins our program to share how microcirculationcan improve your health, resulting in a better quality of life and a healthier aging process! As a Pharmacist, Nutritionist, Author, and Health Educator, Ross Pelton, R.Ph, Ph.D., CNN, has worked hard to reveal the potential behind natural medicine. In October 1999, Pelton was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine.  Ross is the author of 13 books. He is the world’s leading authority on the topic of drug-induced nutrient depletions and his book titled The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook (2nd edition) is an important reference book. Ross joins us to discuss Improving Your Health with Microcirculation Ross Pelton's Website PEMF & A New Theory of Aging   Sound Health Options

As a Pharmacist, Nutritionist, Author, and Health Educator, Ross Pelton, R.Ph, Ph.D., CNN, has worked hard to reveal the potential behind natural medicine. In October 1999, Pelton was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. He is also the world's leading authority on the topic of drug-induced nutrient depletions. Ross is the author of 13 books. He is the world’s leading authority on the topic of drug-induced nutrient depletions and his book titled The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook (2nd edition) is an important reference book Listen as Ross Pelton joins us to discuss: How you can utilize and integrate natural medicine into your lifeEffective natural therapies for depression and anxietyThe latest health breakthroughs on achieving longevityAnd more! Ross Pelton's Website Ross Pelton's "Salad Buzz"   Don't forget! Sound Health has 2 day classes every month! Learn More Here

In this episode, we discuss all about fasting: 1. Why we are eating so much as a society, and also eating many meals and snacks every day? 2. What are the benefits of fasting for a healthy body, weight loss and for anti-aging? 3. What are the different types of fasts, from daily Time Restricted Feeding to longer fasts including the 5 day water and Fasting Mimicking Diet? On this episode, I talk with James LaValle, and we discuss all about the best natural weight loss, health reset, and anti-aging tactic that you could probably do. James LaValle is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board certified clinical nutritionist, and expert and educator in integrative and precision health. Dr. LaValle is probably best known for his expertise in personalized integrative therapies uncovering the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from feeling healthy and vital. James is author of 16 e books and 20 books including the most recently released, Your Blood Never Lies, as well as his best seller, Cracking the Metabolic Code. He was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine.

Dr. James LaValle, is a nationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board certified clinical nutritionist, founder of Metabolic Code Enterprises, Inc., a web platform and practice solution enterprise, launching AIR Support and the Metabolic Code Assessment.  He is author of 16 e books and 20 books including the most recently released, Your Blood Never Lies, as well as his best seller, Cracking the Metabolic Code, along with Smart Medicine for Healthier Living, Nutritional Cost of Drugs and The Cox 2 Connection. He was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine and was one of only nine Americans selected to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau. LaValle served as the nutrition correspondent for Body Shaping, the number one fitness show on ESPN II in the late 1990’s. Jim is a favorite interviewee for the media related to natural care, and has done well over 500 media appearances in T.V. and radio.

Much of what has been taught about nutrition in the past is not correct. We are finally discovering the truths of how our body reacts to food and we all react differently. That is why it's important for you to test and experiment to find what works for you!     Take away: Your microbiome plays a major role in your health.    Action step: Eat more fiber and take a probiotic   Money Learnings: Dr. LaValle learned to value of hard work from his dad and to appreciate what he earned. Be passionate and commit to excellence.    Bio: James LaValle, is an internationally recognized clinical pharmacist, author, board certified clinical nutritionist, and expert and educator in integrative and precision health.  James is probably best known for his expertise in personalized integrative therapies uncovering the underlying metabolic issues that keep people from feeling healthy and vital. James is author of 16 e books and 20 books including the most recently released, Your Blood Never Lies, as well as his best seller, Cracking the Metabolic Code. LaValle is currently affiliated with George Washington University as a clinical instructor in the Masters of Integrative Medicine program, and received a Faculty of the Year award in 2017 from the American Academy of Anti-Ageing Medicine, where he has taught for over a decade.   His experience and clinical work spans from the super athlete to individuals struggling with chronic health complaints.  Organizations such as the Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and athletes from Olympians, to collegiate baseball, basketball and football, pro football, car racing all search out his expertise for optimizing metabolism and targeting real world results. He was selected to direct the  Pro Football Hall of Fame to direct the state of the art performance and health rejuvenation facility at the Institute for a Hall of Fame Life, located in the Johnson Controls NFL Hall of Fame Village projected to open in Canton, Ohio in 2019/2020.   He was named one of the “50 Most Influential Pharmacists” by American Druggist magazine and was one of only nine Americans selected to participate in the inaugural Dietary Supplement Education Alliance & Dietary Supplement Information Bureau.  Jim is a favorite interviewee for the media related to natural care, and has done well over 500 media appearances in T.V. and radio.   Highlights from this episode: Episode Page   Dr. LaValle's history of teaching.  Calories in / out doesn't always work. The importance of plant-based food. How daily lifestyle and movement are part of a healthy life.  The importance of the microbiome.  How the brain and gut are connected. The long term unintended consequences of drugs.  All the bugs that live inside you.  How your diet affects your microbiome.  Why sugar is a major problem in our diet.   The foods that can cause allergic reactions.  Why you should take a probiotic. Foods can aggravate your immune system.  What has been fed to the animals you eat? How to get people to change their habits?   https://www.jimlavalle.com/ http://www.metaboliccode.com/ Probiotics.com   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jim-LaValle-169566756447190/   Twitter:https://twitter.com/JimLaValle Richer Soul Life Beyond Money. You got rich, now what? Let's talk about your journey to more a purposeful, intentional, amazing life. Where are you going to go and how are you going to get there? Let's figure that out together. At the core is the financial well being to be able to do what you want, when you want, how you want. It's about personal freedom! Thanks for listening! If you like the show please leave a review on iTunes: http://bit.do/richersoul https://www.facebook.com/richersoul http://richersoul.com/ rocky@richersoul.com Any financial advice is for educational purposes only and you should consult with an expert for your specific needs.

Research is confirming that there is a direct link between the gut and the brain. In this interview, probiotics expert Ross Pelton, RPh, will describe the research associated with probiotics and brain health. The focus of the interview is on cognition and mental health issues such as depression and anxiety and how probiotics may help patients with brain issues. Approximate listen time is 31 minutes About the Expert Ross Pelton, RPh, CCN, is Essential Formula's director of science, in addition to being a practicing pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, and health educator in Southern Oregon. Pelton earned his bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin. A certified clinical nutritionist, Pelton was named as 1 of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Pelton teaches continuing education programs for healthcare professionals to use natural medicine and integrate it into their practices. He also has authored numerous books, including The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook, which is a gold-standard reference book for health practitioners. About the Sponsor Essential Formulas Incorporated (EFI) was established in 2000 as the sole US distributor of world-renowned microbiologist Dr. Iichiroh Ohhira’s award-winning probiotic dietary supplements and skin care products. Always an innovator, EFI introduced REG’ACTIV in 2015, containing ME-3, a probiotic catalyst that produces the “master’” oxidant glutathione inside the body's cells. A family-owned and operated business, EFI was founded on the philosophy of providing high-quality preventative, supportive, and comprehensive pro-health products for the entire family. EFI continues to flourish and grow through a strong company and product integrity and the knowledge that they’re providing scientifically proven products that positively impact the health and well-being of their customers. Transcript Karolyn Gazella: Hello, I'm Karolyn Gazella, the publisher of the Natural Medicine Journal. Today we're talking about the gut-brain axis and how probiotics can help with brain function, including mental health issues and cognition. Before we begin, I'd like to thank the sponsor of this topic who is Essential Formulas Incorporated. My guest is probiotics expert and registered pharmacists, Ross Pelton. Ross, thank you so much for joining me today. Ross Pelton: Hi, Karolyn is really nice to be with you and your audience again. Appreciate it very much. Gazella: Yeah, this is a really interesting subject. We've covered it a little bit in the Natural Medicine Journal, but I'm really anxious to kind of dig in a little bit more deeply with you. So let's just jump right in. How much do we know about the connection between what's going on in the gut and how that can influence the brain? Pelton: Well, we're starting to learn a lot more about it and I would say that we're still in the infancy of this learning curve, but we now understand why we call the gut your second brain. There's an enormous amount of neurons in your gut. There's over a hundred million neurons and your probiotic bacteria and the compounds they produce, interact with those neurons in your gut and send signals to your brain up what's called the vagus nerve, and so that's how the gut communicates with the brain, through this super highway of nerves called the vagus nerve. It's the longest nerve in the body. What's really interesting to me, Karolyn, is that they've figured out that about 20% of the vagus nerves are sending information from the brain into the stomach or the gut. But 80% of these nerve fibers in the vagus nerve are sending information from the stomach to the brain. So the majority of this information, this communication between the gut and the brain is really the gut communicating with the brain. Gazella: Wow. That's pretty cool. So let's talk a little bit about the scientific literature then. What does the scientific literature tell us about the link between the gut microbiome and mental health issues like depression and anxiety? Pelton: That's getting to be a big topic also and there's a tremendous amount of work being done in that area. In the cover, on the cover of the magazine Psychology Today, in April, 2014 their lead article was the psychobiotic revolution, how your gut bacteria control and influence your emotions and your state of mind. So a mainstream journal, Psychology Today, is referring to what they call a psychobiotic revolution. There's more and more studies that are starting to tease out how this happens. One study I found that was very interesting, mice who were infected with a very small of a toxic bacteria called campylobacter, but it was such a small dose, it did not cause any immune system activation. So the body really didn't know it was there. There was no immune alarm reaction. However, several tests revealed at the mice exhibited greater levels of depression and anxiety-like behavior. So the brain knows, even though the body wasn't responding with an immune reaction, the brain could tell that there was some bad bacteria, very small amount in the gut. In a human trial, it was chronic fatigue patients. It was a placebo controlled trial so some of the chronic fatigue patients were getting probiotics and some were getting a placebo and they did stool samples and they did a number of tests of depression and anxiety and the people taking probiotics were calmer, had less anxiety and claimed they were better able to cope, they got better sleep and they had fewer heart palpitations. So animal studies and human trials are also kind of combining to give us more and more information about this gut-brain communication. Gazella: Great. Now what about other brain issues like cognition and concentration? Does the gut-brain axis cover those issues in the scientific literature as well? Pelton: Well, it really does and it starts at birth and there's a real strong and important relationship between the early microbiome and child cognitive development. You find out that when children are born with a Cesarean birth, the mother has to give a C-section birth, then there's a difference in the microbiome. They've studied infants between C-section births and healthy natural vaginal births and they find out that the infants that are born via C-section for cognitive development through the ages of 4 through 9 is what this particular study looked at and they called it a cognitive gap. So it's just more information that's detailing that an infant's microbiome plays a real critical role in cognitive development. Now, we're learning more and more about the relationship between microbiome and psychology and neuroscience and normally you'd think that the fields of psychology and microbiology are not really connected, but now they're starting to be strongly connected because we're finding out how strongly microbiology and the influence of your bacteria communicate with your brain and affect your mental, emotional states. So gut health affects mental health is the stronger and stronger message that's coming out from the scientific community. Gazella: Yeah, it's really true. I have to tell you, there was an interesting study that I read while I trying to prepare for this interview and it was involving traumatic brain injury. Now, I understand that that connection is preliminary, but it's pretty promising to make the connection between traumatic brain injury and the gut. How can probiotics help someone who has experienced traumatic brain injury? Pelton: Well, there's several studies that have been done on this now. The gut-brain axis is a communication between the gut and the brain and it's the nervous system that does the communication, and when you upset the nervous system, you're going to upset the communication between the gut and the brain. So the gut microbiome has a central role in this pathway of humidification and it's really altered. They find out that the gut microbiome is significantly altered following a brain injury. It reads to more inflammation in the central nervous system and that affects the brain. You get brain inflammation. So that's 1 of the studies that talked about this traumatic brain injury microbiome relationship. In animal studies, it's not nice to talk about these studies because they do some nasty things to the animals, but that's the way we learn about a lot of these things. So they took some male rats and divided them into 2 groups. One group received a brain injury and the other didn't. But they looked at their microbiome before and after and they started a pre-traumatic brain injury incident and then they rechecked the microbiome in day 2, day 7, and day 14. They found that the mice that had received the traumatic brain injury, there was a definite significant change in the composition of their microbiome and it got worse as time went on. They started looking at the microbiome before the injury and then checked it at 2 hours after the injury and then 1 day, 3 days, and 7 days afterward. The change in the microbiome continued to worsen after that traumatic brain injury. So when we learn more about this, we see that the faster you can intervene, the more help that you can provide in this type of a situation. Gazella: So the scientific literature is clear that in cases of brain function, mental health, like depression, anxiety, and even in cases of traumatic brain injury, that the gut microbiome is altered. Does the scientific literature tell us that a probiotic intervention can reverse, change or influence the gut microbiome in such a way that the brain will be positively influenced? Pelton: Well, yes. That's what we're learning is that if you supply probiotics, you will change the gut and you change the electrical and chemical communication between the gut and the brain and you can influence the brain in positive ways. There's a number of researchers that are really documenting the changes in the brain from microbiome probiotic administration. There's a scientist by the name of [Christine Tillich 00:09:11] and she does brain imaging scans on people, these are human clinical trials. She had a group of women who had no previous gastrointestinal complaints and no previous psychiatric problems. She gave them probiotics twice a day for 2 weeks and she conducted functional MRI brain scan on these women and they were looking at the brain activity when the volunteers were viewing faces that contained different emotional expressions and they found changes in the brain regions that control the central processing of emotions and sensations. So this is a placebo controlled trial. Some of the women who were taking something but wasn't a probiotic and then the other women had probiotics and the women that had probiotics, they found positive changes in the brain areas that process emotions and sensations. So really interesting work that's being done. Gazella: Yeah. Very exciting to know that we have this intervention. Now, last year I read about a very small study that got some publicity and it was actually negative towards probiotics and it stated that probiotics can actually cause brain fog. I'm not sure if you had a chance to read that study or what's your take on this issue if it's come up in your pharmacy practice that probiotics can actually cause negative brain issues? Pelton: Well, I'm familiar with that study and my take on that is that this has to do with SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. When people have SIBO, then yes, probiotics can cause a problem because SIBO is a situation were bacteria that are normally resident in the large intestine and the colon have translocated. They backed up into the lower portion of the small intestine. So it's not necessarily bad bacteria, but it's just bacteria that are now in the wrong geographical location in the GI track. Those bacteria can digest the fibers in food and cause gas and bloating and a great deal of discomfort. They produce a compound called D-lactate and that can produce brain fog. But the scientist that reported this, I think, really didn't report it correctly, or at least how I would like to report it because he's just saying that taking probiotics cause brain fog. Well, you have to understand that this is in SIBO and many people with SIBO should not be taking probiotics because the bacteria will digest the fibers and cause a great deal of gas and bloating and discomfort. So SIBO is a unique situation and needs to be dealt with separately. Gazella: Yes. Now, that makes a lot of sense. I'm glad that you clarified that. So when it comes to using probiotics in clinical practice for brain health, do you recommend probiotics as a sole treatment or as a part of a more comprehensive protocol? How can clinicians best use probiotics in clinical practice for this particular application? Pelton: Well, I'm always in favor of a more comprehensive approach to health, so I wouldn't advocate just probiotics. It's really important to understand how important a healthy diet is and exercise and good sleep. I also advocate a wide range of different types of nutritional supplements. But probiotics are 1 of the things I do recommend on a regular basis and it's kind of like insurance where you might not need it, but if you get in this situation where you need it, you're darn happy that you have it. I would say that there's certainly a range in how important probiotics are to people. Some people can maintain a microbiome when they're eating a healthy diet and they do pretty well long term and they might be less in need of probiotics on a regular basis. But I would say the majority of Americans, in fact, I've got 1 study that said that 90% of adults and children in America do not consume the recommended amount of fiber in their daily diets and fiber is what feeds your good bacteria. So if you're not getting adequate fiber in your diet, then you're not supporting the growth of your microbiome and your need probiotics. But I really emphasize the people, Karolyn, probiotics alone are not enough. You have to feed your probiotics well, otherwise they won't thrive and survive. So it's a combination of a fiber rich diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, especially the multicolored vegetables. That fiber will feed your microbiome and promote growth and proliferation of a more diverse microbiome. So it's probiotics plus fiber in the diet. Gazella: How do you counsel your patients about getting more fiber in the diet? Because I think you're right. I think that this is a big issue and the statistics are pretty clear that people aren't getting enough fiber and fiber and probiotics go hand in hand. How do you teach them to get more fiber in their diet? Pelton: Well, I encourage people to Google my YouTube video. It's an 8-minute youtube video, just Google Ross, R-O-S-S, and and salad buzz, B-U-Z-Z. It is an 8-minute video that I teach people how to save a lot of time making salads. One of my theories is that people don't eat salads often enough because they're time consuming. But I teach to process all the vegetables all at once and then the secret to the whole process is squeeze a lemon over all of your processed vegetables and toss that lemon and lemon juice in your vegetables and the vitamin C in the lemon juice will preserve your precut vegetables. So I put it in a Tupperware and it stores easily for a week and then every night when my wife and I have our big salad, I take a handful of lettuce and a handful of vegetables that I've already processed and put some wild caught salmon on there. It takes me like a minute to make supper. So it's a way to get a wide range of vegetables because I've got about 14 different types of vegetables in my salad mix and it saves time in the process. Gazella: Yeah, it's a great idea. I'm sure that practitioners may want to share that with their patients. So that's Ross salad buzz. Go ahead and search that. So now let's talk about probiotics. I mean, this is a field where there are a lot of different types of probiotic products. So what do you feel clinicians should look for when choosing a probiotic to recommend to their patients? Pelton: Well, that's a really broad topic, Karolyn, and there's a lot to talk about there. Turns out that humans have somewhere between 500 and a thousand different species of bacteria in their GI track and we're just beginning to learn what these are and there's a wide range between your microbiome and my microbiome. But generally you want to have a strain that has been prepared well in manufacturing so they good shelf life. That's a critical factor whether or not they need to be refrigerated. But 1 thing I'd like to talk about is what I call the new frontier in microbiome science. This is the term postbiotic metabolites. Now, some of your listeners might not be aware of this term, but it's really in 1 of the most important new understandings about probiotic bacteria and the microbiome. We're starting to learn that it's not so much the bacteria that are important, but it's the compounds they produce and we call these compounds postbiotic metabolites. So the process goes like this. You ingest fiber rich foods, your probiotic bacteria break down those fibers and produce secondary compounds that we call it postbiotic metabolites. These are the compounds that are the master health regulating compounds for the entire body. These postbiotic metabolites influence the functioning of every single organ system in the body, especially your immune system in your brain. I use the analogy of NASA's mission control center, controls our space flights. There's dozens and dozens of scientists and engineers but it's really the hundreds of computers making millions of decisions every second that guide and regulate our space flights. So in my analogy, your probiotic bacteria are kind of like the scientists and engineers, but it's your postbiotic metabolites that are really doing all the work, controlling and regulating all the signals that are having an effect on virtually every single organ system in your body. So that's the real important message and the new frontier and the microbiome, learning what bacteria produce these compounds, what strains of bacteria are more efficient at producing some of these compounds and as we get farther into this whole topic, science will start to tell us what types of fibers and what types of food will primarily or preferentially feed different types of bacteria. We know that diversity is important for a healthy microbiome and that means a wider range of different types of bacteria. The way to get a wider range of different types of bacteria is to consume a wider range of different types of fiber. So it's not just the quantity of fiber, it's also the the different diversity, different types of fiber is what's required to get a diverse microbiome. Gazella: Now give us some examples of the postbiotic metabolites that are produced that are so important to our health. Pelton: That's a big topic and I'm glad you've asked me because it's fascinating to me. Our probiotic bacteria are fascinating little chemical factories and so some of the postbiotic metabolites, all the B vitamins are produced by your probiotic bacteria. Several of the amino acids, they make a lot of the neurotransmitters and lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 produces glutathione. Some of the strains produce hydrogen peroxide, which is active against some of the things like Candida yeasts and short chain fatty acids are 1 of the big, most important categories that we know about. These short chain fatty acids are active against pathogens. They rebalance the acid base level. They have antiinflammatory activity. So that's why these postbiotic metabolites are so important because these are the compounds that have all the activity to regulate the microbiome ecosystem. So again, it's not just the bacteria, it's all these compounds that they produced. These compounds are produced during fermentation. The bacteria ferment foods to get access to the fibers and then they change these fibers into these secondary metabolites, the postbiotic metabolites. So fermentation is the process that creates the postbiotic metabolites. For years, and in fact for centuries, fermented foods have been a primary way that we preserved foods and it's the postbiotic metabolites, especially the short chain fatty acids that are produced during fermentation that create an acidic environment to suppress the growth of pathogens. So that's how fermentation works and that's an important part of your immune system because in your gut, the bacteria go through fermentation process and produce these short chain fatty acids that will suppress the growth of pathogens. Gazella: Yeah. When you're describing this, you're describing this combination of fiber plus bacteria. So you're actually describing more than a probiotic. You're describing more of a whole food extract or what's sometimes called a symbiotic. Is this where we're headed? It seems like there's not a lot of probiotic products that have fiber rich foods combined with the bacteria to create this whole food combination, which then creates the posts by attic metabolites. So it seems like this is unique. Pelton: Well, you're right. Although you will see some probiotic products that have a prebiotic in them, like fructo-oligosaccharides or FOS. I mean, some of them had things like inulin in them. But keep in mind, we want to strive for a diversity of fibers and so these products just have one type of fiber or 1 or 2 types of fiber. A product that I'm very familiar with because I'm the scientific director with Essential Formulas is called Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics. They're made in a fermentation process. It takes years to produce the product. They have large fermentation vats where they start out with 12 strains of bacteria then they had dozens of different types of organically grown foods and the bacteria are given 3 to 5 years to break down and ferment all of these foods, and during the process they're producing a wide range of postbiotic metabolites and scientific research has determined that Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics contain over 400 different postbiotic metabolites. So Dr. Ohhira's is really not primarily a probiotic. It's primarily delivering postbiotic metabolites directly and it's a much faster way of effecting change in the microbiome because if you just take probiotic bacteria, those bacteria, when they reached the gut have to find fibers and begin the process of breaking those fibers down and transforming them into the postbiotic metabolites. But Dr. Ohhira's is directly delivering these postbiotic metabolites so you get a really rapid microbiome restoration because they immediately, as soon as they hit the gut, they start to produce the antiinflammatory effects and accelerates the regrowth of healthy new cells that line the GI track. It's just a really unique fast way to create change and correct things like dysbiosis. Gazella: So you mentioned that there are dozens of forwards in the Dr. Ohhira's product that are fermented and combined with the 12 strains. What are some of the types of foods that are in that product? Pelton: They have a wide range of fruits and vegetables and mushrooms and seaweeds, all healthfully raised. They have different standards in Japan, so they're not what we would call organically grown by our standards because they just don't have those standards. But they're healthfully grown. They use pure spring water. There's no pesticides and insecticides and artificial fertilizer or anything, and they're allowed to grow naturally and then there are harvested at their peak of ripeness. So the nutritional content is at its peak and then they shred these foods and add them to the fermentation vats so that the bacteria can start to break them down and do the fermentation process that allows them to produce the postbiotic metabolites. Gazella: Now you mentioned that you don't have to refrigerate Dr. Ohhira's. I mean, as a consumer, I actually find that really appealing, but some practitioners are pretty focused on the refrigerated probiotic products. Why don't you have to refrigerate Dr. Ohhira's? Pelton: Well, Dr. Ohhira's, this fermentation process that I've spoken about, the bacteria learn to thrive and survive in the fermentation vats at room temperature. So they have adjusted to survive in a room temperature and then the capsule for Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics is a patented capsule design that's as hard in the harsh acidic environment in the stomach and then preferentially releases all the contents in the small intestines. So it's a user-friendly product where food is not an issue, it could be taken on an empty stomach or with food and refrigeration is also not an issue. Gazella: Then what's the dosage of the Dr. Ohhira's if you're just going with regular maintenance and there's not really a therapeutic application? You just want to recommend it to your patient for optimal health. Pelton: Sure. The recommended dose is 2 capsules daily on a ongoing regular basis. Gazella: Perfect. So I'd like to talk a little bit about the future because it sounds like what you've just described with this whole food extract and this fermentation process at room temperature and the paste that's created and it's put into this special gel cap that can survive the stomach. It sounds like that we're headed to the future. So bring out your crystal ball and tell us 2 things. First of all, what does the future hold when it comes to probiotic research and advancement and then what does the future hold when it comes to this gut-brain axis and where we're headed with that? Pelton: Okay. Well, I think that in the future we'll see more and more recognition of the benefits of these postbiotic metabolites. I think more companies will start to try to develop products so that they can directly deliver postbiotic metabolites. In fact, the pharmaceutical industry also sees the handwriting on the wall. I've looked at a number of different reports where pharmaceutical companies are starting to develop new products that contain postbiotic metabolites. The pharmaceutical industry realizes that rather than trying to develop more antibiotics, they can start to develop products that contain postbiotics and these new products will be less expensive to produce. They'll have fewer side effects because these are compounds that are naturally produced in the human body. So it's a new frontier for the pharmaceutical industry also. The postbiotic metabolites is a new frontier all the way around. Your other part of your question is how do I see the whole industry of probiotics going? We'll continue to discover new strains of bacteria, but I think there will be more emphasis focused on trying to discover what are the compounds, these postbiotic metabolites, the different strains of bacteria produce. So it's not so much trying to just discover different strains of bacteria and name them, but what are these compounds that they're producing and which strains of bacteria are more effective at producing these compounds for us. I think we'll also get into in the future much more personalized microbiome understanding so that different people will react differently or more favorably to different types of probiotic products and even different types of postbiotic metabolites will probably be more effective and more important for different types of individuals with different types of problems. Gazella: Yeah. I have to say that this does lend itself to that personalized medicine that practitioners and researchers are talking about. So I would agree. I think that's a great direction to go in. Now when it comes to the gut-brain axis, I know a lot of the research that we talked about today is a bit preliminary. Are you expecting to see some more formalized larger clinical trials, human trials, double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled trials in the area of mental health, potentially dementia, Alzheimer's, concentration, maybe chemo brain? I mean this is just such a big topic. Pelton: Well, yes, Karolyn. That's another huge frontier for the microbiome. Some studies are calling the microbiome the missing link in the gut-brain axis and they're starting to focus more on the microbiome's role in the link between gastrointestinal health and mental health. So we'll see a lot of that happening in the future. I can share 1 study with your listeners that's really quite amazing that talks to the mental health issue and the relationship between the microbiome and mental health. Scientists started out with 2 strains of mice. One strain of mice is specifically bred to be highly timid and anxious and the second strain of mice are bred to be highly courageous, bold, and exploratory. So then the researchers just took the bacteria from the GI track of each strain of mice and implanted them into the opposite strain. It completely reversed their behaviors, just by changing the bacteria and their microbiome, taking it from the bold, courageous exploratory mice and transplanting those gut bacteria into the strain that was timid and anxious. It just totally changed the behavior from being bold and exploratory to being timid and anxious and did the reverse in the opposite of mice. So fascinating information to see how just the gut bacteria have this direct influence on behavior and emotional activity and so forth. I'm sure we'll see many more studies in the future that are starting to unravel how this all works for us. Gazella: Yeah, I would agree. This is going to be fun to keep an eye on and to follow because it's really exciting and it can really make a difference in patients' lives. So once again, I'd like to thank the sponsor of this topic was Essential Formulas Incorporated, of course, the distributors of Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics. Thank you, Ross, for providing us with such a great amount of interesting information for us to consider. Have a great day. Pelton: Okay, Karolyn. Nice to be with your listeners. I want to just encourage everybody, every time you eat, you're feeding 100 trillion guests, so feed your probiotics well. Gazella: Absolutely. That's great ending advice. Thank you. Pelton: All right.

In this podcast episode, we speak with Ross Pelton, RRh, CCN, about the variety of mechanisms of action that probiotics have when it comes to reducing cancer risk. Pelton also talks about colon cancer, H. pylori, and probiotic safety and dosage. Finally, he describes how to support a healthy microbiome with a healthy lifestyle. (Approximate listening time is 32 minutes) About the Expert Ross Pelton, RPh, CCN, is Essential Formula's director of science, in addition to being a practicing pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, and health educator in Southern Oregon. Pelton earned his bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin. A certified clinical nutritionist, Pelton was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Pelton teaches continuing education programs for healthcare professionals to use natural medicine and integrate it into their practices. He also has authored numerous books, including The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook, which is a gold-standard reference book for health practitioners. About the Sponsor Essential Formulas Incorporated (EFI) was established in 2000 as the sole US distributor of world-renowned microbiologist Dr. Iichiroh Ohhira’s award-winning probiotic dietary supplements and skin care products. Always an innovator, EFI introduced REG’ACTIV in 2015, containing ME-3, a probiotic catalyst that produces the “master’” oxidant glutathione inside the body's cells. A family-owned and operated business, EFI was founded on the philosophy of providing high-quality preventative, supportive, and comprehensive pro-health products for the entire family. EFI continues to flourish and grow through a strong company and product integrity and the knowledge that they’re providing scientifically proven products that positively impact the health and well-being of their customers. Transcript Karolyn Gazella: Hello. I'm Karolyn Gazella, the publisher of the Natural Medicine Journal. Today, our topic is reducing cancer risk with probiotics. Before we begin, I'd like to thank the sponsor of this interview who is Essential Formulas Incorporated. My guest is integrative pharmacist and nutritionist Ross Pelton who is an expert on the topic of probiotics and health. Ross, thank you so much for joining me. Ross Pelton, RPh, CCN: Hi, Karolyn. It's really nice to be with you. I enjoy our conversations. Gazella: Yes. Now, first of all, how does the scientific literature stack up when it comes to probiotics and cancer prevention? Are there published human clinical trials? Pelton: Well there's really not a lot of human clinical trials, but there's really quite a bit of research that has been conducted looking at cancer with probiotics. Human clinical trials are lacking, but there's a lot of work that has been done, cell culture studies and animal studies. There's a lot of work being done in this area. We just don't have the longterm human clinical trials which are very expensive to do. I think there's a lot to talk about because we've got substantial studies that have been published on the relationship between probiotics and cancer. Gazella: Right. So I'd like to begin by having you give us an overview of exactly how probiotics influence the microbiota to reduce cancer risk. Now, there are several mechanisms of action. So go ahead and fill us in. Pelton: Sure. Well some of your probiotics produce compounds that have antioxidant activity. Some of them have anti-inflammatory activity. They help to regulate detoxification. A lot of these functions are due to the fact that your probiotic bacteria produce secondary compounds or secondary metabolites that are called postbiotic metabolites. This is really the new frontier in microbiome science, starting to learn more about the compounds that your probiotic bacteria produce when they digest and ferment the food that you give them. Remember, these compounds have anticancer activity or protectant mechanisms that help protect against cancer. Gazella: So I'd like to focus on these mechanisms of action as they relate to reducing risk of cancer. So let's begin with a more well-known mechanism and that is, as you mentioned, probiotics influence immunity. Describe what the scientific literature tells us about probiotics and the immune system. Pelton: Well we know that 70% to 80% of the cells in your immune system reside in the gut. So it's really critical to have a healthy microbiome, a healthy gastrointestinal tract because that is the bulk of your immune system cells. One thing a lot of people don't realize is in the first 6 months of life, the primary function of your probiotic bacteria is to train your immune system. So it's really critical that kids get a good start in life with a vaginal delivery and adequate breastfeeding and for kids that don't, that's a compromised immune system. The gut is the seat of the immune system, and your probiotic bacteria are what trains the immune system. Gazella: So now, what about maybe a little less known activity which is, as you mentioned, the antioxidant potential of probiotics? This may not be on the radar of some practitioners. Describe this mechanism of action. Pelton: Sure. We know that free radical damage causes DNA damage and can increase your cancer risk. In a highly inflammatory condition in the gastrointestinal tract, there's a lot of free radicals being produced and a number of your probiotic bacteria have antioxidant activity and they also produce compounds that have antioxidant activity. There's 2 things going on here. Some of the bacteria themselves are antioxidants, but more importantly, they produce compounds that have direct antioxidant activity. In that respect, they're reducing free radical damage and reducing cancer risk especially for colon cancer which is a site of a lot of the free radical activity in a highly inflamed colon. Gazella: Yeah. We're going to definitely talk about colon cancer, but now, when it comes to this influence on immunity and antioxidant potential, are there research studies in vivo or in vitro studies indicating probiotics, which probiotics can help with immunity and antioxidant potential? Pelton: Sure. There's both some of the lactic acid-producing bacteria, Lactobacillus strains, and also some of the Bifidobacteria, bacteria that reside primarily in the large intestine and colon. One of the classes of antioxidants that they produce, they're called exopolysaccharides. That's a big word for people, but it just means that there are chains of sugars that the bacteria produce and then they excrete them and they have antioxidant activity. So this is just one of the mechanisms of action by which both Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria are able to produce antioxidant compounds that reduce cancer risks. Gazella: So the research tells us that probiotics can influence gene expression. Tell us how this impacts cancer risk reduction. Pelton: Well various different strains of probiotic bacteria can influence gene expression. They can influence apoptosis, which is the rate of cell death. They can influence metastasis. They can influence cancer stem cells. They can up-regulate tumor suppressor genes. So a number of different ways that probiotic bacteria and the compounds that they produce, these postbiotic metabolites can influence gene expression which ultimately is going to influence cancer risks. Gazella: So now, there's a significant amount of evidence and research showing that toxins can increase risk of cancer. What role do probiotics play in neutralizing some of these toxins or in supporting the detoxification of some of these toxins? Pelton: Sure. This is actually a pretty broad category. There's a lot of different ways that probiotics can have detoxification capabilities. Some strains of bacteria can detoxify or decrease the absorption of a cancer risk factor called bisphenol A. There's a lot of studies on that substance now that show that it increases cancer risk. This is a compound that's in a lot of products that are on the market, especially baby products. Some strains detoxify some of the agricultural pesticides. One of the Essential Formulas' products, Reg'Activ, contains a strain of bacteria called Lactobacillus fermentum ME3, and that strain of bacteria up-regulates a group of enzymes called paraoxonase enzymes. Those enzymes directly detoxify things like organophosphates, which are one of the commonly used pesticides in the agricultural industry. Other strains can directly bind some of the heavy metal toxins like mercury and lead and cadmium. They also decrease the absorption of these heavy metal toxins when they bind them up so they don't get absorbed into your system. They get excreted. Some strains actually metabolize cancer-causing food preservatives like sodium nitrate, and Bifidobacteria are able to degrade and detoxify a very serious compound called perchlorate. We get exposed to perchlorate from fertilizers in the environment and a lot of that in the agricultural industry. Heterocyclic amines are frequently caused by cooking meat at high temperatures. So our middle America, meat and potato people, they're out there with their barbecues and they're producing these heterocyclic amines. Some of the Lactobacillus organisms reduce the toxicity from heterocyclic amines. That's just a number of the different ways that your probiotic bacteria function as detoxifying agents in the gastrointestinal tract. Gazella: Yeah. It's a long, impressive list. Now, I want to get back to the ME3 that you mentioned. Are there scientific studies on that particular- Pelton: There are. Gazella: ... strain, the ME3? Pelton: It is a really, really fascinating topic because Lactobacillus fermentum ME3 synthesizes glutathione. Glutathione is the master regulator of your detoxification throughout your system and every cell produces glutathione, but it's hard to boost your levels of glutathione because, when you take it orally, it gets oxidized, it gets broken down and destroyed so you don't absorb it. But now we've got a strain of bacteria, this Lactobacillus fermentum ME3, where the bacteria actually synthesize glutathione. Yes, we have human clinical trials showing that the antioxidant activity of glutathione produced by the ME3 probiotic bacteria will reduce levels of oxidized LDL cholesterol so you're reducing your cardiovascular risk, and it does a good job of increasing detoxification throughout your whole body. The human clinical trial, people taking ME3 had an astounding 49% increase in the ratio between oxidized glutathione to reduced glutathione with the reduced glutathione is the active form. A 49% increase in the ratio of the reduced to oxidized glutathione is a huge, huge meaningful marker. This is really a revolution in healthcare and medicine to be able to boost your glutathione levels on a regular basis because, as I mentioned, glutathione regulates your detoxification. It's also called the master antioxidant and probably protects more of your body than all the other antioxidants combined. This is one area that is just really astounding both in terms of antioxidant protection and detoxification capabilities. Gazella: That's great. So I'd like to switch gears and I'd like to talk about specific cancers. When I think about probiotics and cancer, I often think about colon cancer. You mentioned that previously. What role can probiotics play in reducing the risk of colon cancer? Pelton: Well there's a number of ways that this can happen. Pathological bacteria will convert bile acids into secondary metabolites that promote cancer. When you have the proper acid-base balance in the GI tract, there's a dramatic reduction in the conversion of these bile acids into the more cancer-causing secondary metabolites. So maintaining the proper acid-base balance, which is what the probiotic bacteria do when they produce things like short-chain fatty acids and organic acids and nucleic acids, they create the proper acid-base balance which reduces the conversion of bile acids into secondary cancer-causing metabolites. Your probiotics can also inhibit the activity of carcinogenic enzymes. They suppress growth of bacteria that produce enzymes that deconjugate carcinogens. What I mean by that is that a lot of carcinogens get bound up and they're supposed to be excreted when you have bowel movements, but if you don't have good elimination and so things stay in the colon too long, those cancer-causing things that are bound up can get released and reabsorbed. So probiotics can actually suppress the growth of bacteria that produce these enzymes that are deconjugating these carcinogens. Good bacteria are actually keeping these carcinogenic byproducts bound up so they get eliminated from your body. Gazella: Well speaking of bacteria, it's widely known that there's a connection between H. pyloriand cancer. Can you describe that connection and tell us how probiotics can help prevent or even reverse H. pylori? Pelton: Sure. That's another big topic because now that H. pylori has been discovered and understood, we realize it's the primary cause of stomach cancer and cancers in the upper small intestine. This is an interesting bacteria. It's got kind of a corkscrew tail on it, and it can just burrow its way into the lining in the stomach or the lining in the small intestine. When that happens, you've got a hole in your intestinal wall. Then you get the acids and the digestive enzymes leaking through, creating inflammation, and you end up with a higher incidence of cancer. If you have a good, healthy microbiome and adequate numbers of your good bacteria, you suppress the growth or the overgrowth of H. pylori. There's a little bit of a controversy about whether people should try to totally eradicate H. pylori. Some people, some of ... Martin Blaser is one of the leading scientists that's exploring this and saying maybe we shouldn't totally eliminate H. pylori, but people that have H. pylori overgrowth certainly do have increased risk to gastric cancer and small intestinal cancers. It's having a good microbiome and adequate numbers of your good bacteria that will keep the H. pylori in check and not get overgrown so you reduce your cancer risk. Gazella: What are some of the symptoms of H. pylori overgrowth? I mean how does a doctor recognize this in their patient population? Pelton: Well as I described, the bacteria has this corkscrew tail that burrows through the unprotected mucus lining in your stomach or your small intestine. When you get that hole in the lining, you've got an ulcer. It's painful. Your digestive acids, your stomach acid, and your bile acids and small intestine. Then they go through the mucus membrane which is your protective barrier, and they come into direct contact with the cells that line your GI tract. When that mucus protective layer is breached, then those acids contact those cells that line the GI tract and it's painful. You've got an ulcer and you say "Oh, man. This is sore." So people actually oftentimes stop eating because every time they eat, they get more digestive juices in that ulcerative location. You need to heal that ulcer. Getting rid of H. pylori is one thing, but you also have to take time to heal the ulcer. Gazella: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Now so far, we talked about colon cancer, stomach, upper GI. Are there any other cancers when it comes to using probiotics? I mean do you pretty much recommend probiotics as a risk reduction strategy across the board? Pelton: I do because your immune system is so directly related to cancer risk factors. A lot of people don't realize that probiotics have an effect outside the intestinal tract. We now know that things like short-chain fatty acids get absorbed into your system and can actually reduce the risks of liver cancer. It's a whole body effect. These bacteria are not just a local effect in the gastrointestinal tract. I kind of use the analogy of Mission Control at NASA where those computers are controlling your space flights. Well your probiotics and the postbiotic metabolites in your small intestines and your colon are really Mission Control for all health-regulating effects in your whole body. There's a new study that I wanted to share with you, Karolyn, published just recently in a journal called Oncotarget. It's a cancer journal. It says cancer killers in the human gut microbiota. One of the things they're reporting here is that they identify intestinal bacteria that exhibit potent antimalignancy activities on a broad range of solid cancers and leukemia. So this is a relatively new paper just published in July of 2017, identifying that postbiotic metabolites and your probiotic bacteria are helping to reduce both solid cancer tumors and leukemia. It's just an exciting new report giving more emphasis on the anticancer capabilities of your probiotic bacteria. Gazella: Yeah. I think this area of research is going to just really explode. Now, a lot of patients go into their doctor's office and they say "Oh, well I'm fine. I don't need a probiotic supplement because I eat yogurt everyday," or something like that. How easy or difficult is it to get the probiotics we need from diet alone? Pelton: It depends on what you mean by diet. If people are eating fermented foods, that's a really good source of probiotic bacteria, but most people aren't eating sauerkraut and kimchi and tempe and things like that. Most foods don't have probiotic bacteria. People think about yogurt, but commercial yogurts have a lot of sugar which actually promotes the growth of your pathological bacteria and yeast like candida. So commercial yogurts are generally not a good idea either in terms of just not getting a good source of probiotic bacteria. You're really working against the health of your gastrointestinal tract and your microbiome. If people produce their own yogurts, there are some good ones. Yes. But you're really not getting a diverse level of bacteria in yogurt, and a healthy microbiome is a diverse microbiomes which means you want to get a lot of different types of strains of bacteria. The best way to do that is to consume a diet that has many different types of fiber-rich foods, especially the multicolored vegetables. That's the number one food source for your bacteria. Gazella: Right. We have to feed those good bacteria. Pelton: That's right. Gazella: So now, you represent a specific type of probiotic, the Dr. Ohhira's brand. Why do you recommend that specific brand of probiotic? Pelton: Well I'm glad you asked that. I'm the scientific director of Essential Formulas, and Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics is our primary product line. Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics are made differently than every other probiotic in the world. In fact, it's kind of confusing, but Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics is really not primarily a probiotic. It is primarily a fermented food. The Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics are produced in a fermentation production system. We have large fermentation vats in a warehouse, and we start with 12 strains of probiotic bacteria. Then at seasonally appropriate times throughout the year, we shred and harvest dozens of different types of organically-grown foods. There's fruits and vegetables and mushrooms and seaweeds. Then the bacteria get to digest and ferment these foods for 3 years before the product is finished. During that fermentation process, the bacteria are breaking down the foods and producing this wide range of compounds that we now refer to as postbiotic metabolites. As I mentioned earlier, these are the master health-regulating compounds in our system. So Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics have been tested and we find out there are over 400 postbiotic metabolites in Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics. We are not primarily just delivering probiotic bacteria. We're delivering over 400 of these postbiotic metabolites that rapidly create change in the GI tract. You rapidly reduce inflammation, rebalance the acid-base level, promote the growth of healthy new cells that line the GI tract, cell signaling and gut-brain communication directly with postbiotic metabolites. We get what we call rapid microbiome restoration or rapid microbiome repair. Other companies are just giving you bacteria in a capsule. That's kind of like a starter culture. Those bacteria haven't done any work yet. Our bacteria have been working for 3 years producing postbiotic metabolites by the time you ingest them. That's the big difference. Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics is different than every single other probiotic in the world. The new science in the microbiome, the new frontier in microbiome science is starting to realize that it's these postbiotic metabolites that have the master health regulatory effects in the gastrointestinal tract and health-regulating effects for the entire body. So by directly delivering this postbiotic metabolites, we get rapid improvement in the microbiome in the gastrointestinal tract for people who take Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics. Gazella: Now, I know this particular product does not have to be refrigerated. Why is that? Pelton: Well these bacteria learn to thrive and survive at room temperature during the 3 years of fermentation. They don't need to be refrigerated, which makes them very user-friendly. Also they are in a patented capsule that stays hard in the harsh acid environment in the stomach. Then it preferentially releases the contents in the small intestine. So it doesn't make any difference if you take it with food or on an empty stomach. Any way you take it, just the main thing is 2 capsules once a day. Get Dr. Ohhira's in on a regular basis and you'll be maintaining a healthy microbiome. Gazella: Yeah. I'd like to talk a little bit about dosage because honestly it seems like you can ask 3 different experts about dosage and they'll give you 3 different answers. When it comes to dosage specific to cancer prevention, is that the 2 caps per day? What does that deliver in terms of CFUs or different strains for that two caps per day? Pelton: Well 2 capsules a day is the recommended dosage. One thing we emphasize, we're not concerned about how many million or how many billion bacteria we have. There's a numbers game that is really a misconception by people when we're talking about probiotics that they call the bacteria that are available CFU which stands for colony forming units. It really means just the number of viable bacteria, but people have a misconception that more is better. They say "Mine has 30 billion. Mine has 50 billion. Oh, mine's got 100 billion." They think more is better. One of the most critical factors in a healthy microbiome is balance. If you take massive doses even as a healthy strain of bacteria, you're not working in favor of balance. You're actually working against creating balance in the microbiome. So it's not important to have high strains of, high dosages and high numbers. It's better to have a multistrain probiotic, a lot of different strains but at lower dosage levels. I really talk in my lectures and seminars against the high-dose probiotics. I'm not saying they're never appropriate. A product like VSL3, which is a prescription probiotic, I think it has 112 billion bacteria per dose. Those people have some good research and have documented benefits from their high-dose probiotic, but I don't think high-dose probiotics are appropriate on a longterm maintenance basis. You want to strive for balance and diversity. Gazella: Yes, I would agree with that. How many strains are in the Dr. Ohhira's product? Pelton: Dr. Ohhira's has 12 strains. We start out with 12 strains in the manufacturing process. We are a multistrain probiotic. I'm not sure, but Dr. Ohhira may have been the first scientist in the world to understand the concept and the importance of a multistrain probiotic because he created Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics 30 years ago. Gazella: Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about safety. When it comes to cancer prevention, are probiotics safe for the majority of patients or is there any patient or group of patients who should not take probiotics to help reduce cancer risk? Pelton: No, everybody should take probiotics. One of the most important things for health is a healthy microbiome. We now understand that a healthy microbiome is the foundation of health. I think it's important for everybody to realize that supporting and maintaining a healthy microbiome is a critical factor for health regulation. There's no contraindications. I do want to mention briefly, Karolyn, there are 2 studies that were recently published in the journal Cell that have gained a great deal of publicity because they cast doubt on the effectiveness of probiotics. The scientists who conducted these studies stated that their results suggested probiotics are almost useless. There's been a lot of pushback after the publication of these studies. It turns out there was some methodological shortcomings in the way they set up their studies, and there were a very low number of people. I think there was only 8 to 12 people in these studies. What's more disturbing is that it has been learned that the scientists that conducted these studies, they have a personalized approach to probiotics that they promote in their studies. Turns out that they have a vested interest. They have financial interest in this company that's promoting this personalized approach. So it's a very serious flaw and their conclusions should not be generalized of the whole field of probiotics. Allowing studies to be published in which the authors state that probiotics are almost useless is really grossly misleading and a disservice to the general public. Gazella: Yes, I would agree. Now, I often like to ask experts to grab their crystal ball and look into the future. In your case, I'd like to have you tell us what you'd like to see happen when it comes to probiotic or postbiotic metabolite research in the future. What do you want to see happen as we go into this next phase? Because I'll tell you, there's a lot of exciting stuff happening. There's a lot of different directions we could go into. Pelton: You're absolutely right. It is a very exciting field and rapidly evolving. As I've talked about these postbiotic metabolites, the compounds that your probiotic bacteria produce, in the future, we will learn a great deal more about the health-regulating effects of these compounds that your bacteria produce and we'll learn more about which strains of bacteria are more effective at producing some of these health-regulating postbiotic metabolites. I think in the future, we'll probably make a great deal of inroads and progress in designing personalized probiotic programs for people. We'll be able to assess your own innate microbiome and be able to know more accurately how to promote and enhance the growth of your own innate what we call your probiotic fingerprint, the bacterial population that you've developed early in life. I think we'll get into more of a personalized microbiome and personalized approach to probiotics to help promote health in individuals. Gazella: When you think about cancer specifically and reducing cancer risk, I mean now obviously, it's estimated that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer in their lifetime. I mean this is now reaching near epidemic proportions. How critical is it that we look at things like probiotics when it comes to reducing cancer risk? Pelton: Well again, I go back to the immune system. It's absolutely essential that people have a healthy microbiome so that they have a healthy immune system. This is really where it starts. Your gastrointestinal tract and your microbiome are literally the foundation of your health for everything that happens. It is the number 1 thing that people need to be aware of and it's not just the microbiome. As we mentioned earlier, you have to learn how to feed your probiotic bacteria well. This is another key message of mine. This is why diet is so important because you're not eating just for yourself. You're eating to feed 100 trillion guests. It's a pretty big party that's going on down there. Every time you eat, you have to realize that you're feeding your microbiome, and your microbiome is the center and the foundation of your health and your immune system and your anticancer activity. So people need to realize how important it is on a regular basis to eat a wide range of different types of fiber-rich foods, especially the multicolored vegetables, because a more diverse fiber-rich diet will promote the growth of a more diverse microbiome which means your bacteria will produce a wider range of these health-regulating postbiotic metabolites and you will be a healthier person with a stronger immune system. There's a recent study that was just published that shows that, reports that people that consume more probiotics take less antibiotics. That's just another insight into probiotics being able to support your immune system. So these people using probiotics more have a stronger immune system. They have less need over time for antibiotics. Gazella: Yeah. That antibiotic issue, that's something that we ... That could be whole other topic for us. Pelton: It's a big one. Gazella: But as an integrative pharmacist, you share a philosophy with our listeners who are, most of them are integrative practitioners. It's not just about giving a pill and calling it a day. It's a very comprehensive approach, and I like the fact that you focus so heavily on diet and using a healthy diet to feed the probiotics and the bacteria and that you use probiotics hand-in-hand with that comprehensive lifestyle approach which I'm assuming, beyond diet, you counsel people to exercise and get enough sleep and those other lifestyle factors as well. Pelton: Absolutely. Those are critical factors. There are studies now that show that your probiotic bacteria respond to exercise. Exercise needs to be emphasized. So it's diet and exercise, lifestyle. All these healthy things go into creating and maintaining a healthy individual and having a healthy aging process. It's not just probiotics and it's not just diet as you mentioned. It's exercise and sleep and learning how to avoid environmental toxins. There's lots of things that go into it. Gazella: Right. Treat your microbiome well and it will serve you for a long time to come. Pelton: It will work for you. Absolutely. Gazella: Well great. Well Ross, this has been very informational as per usual. I want to thank you for joining me. Once again, I'd like to thank Essential Formulas Incorporated for sponsoring this topic. Thanks so much, Ross. Have a great day. Pelton: Nice to be with you, Karolyn. Always enjoy speaking with you.

In this interview, Ross Pelton, RPh, PhD, CCN, describes the new science associated with postbiotic metabolites and their impact on health. Listeners will also discover what postbiotic metabolites are and why they are so important to the human microbiome. About the Expert Ross Pelton, RPh, PhD, CCN, is Essential Formula's director of science, in additino to being a practicing pharmacist, clinical nutritionist, and health educator in Southern Oregon. Pelton earned his bachelor of science in pharmacy from the University of Wisconsin and received his PhD in psychology and holistic Health from the University for Humanistic Studies in San Diego, California. A certified clinical nutritionist, Pelton was named as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the United States by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. Pelton teaches continuing education programs for healthcare professionals to use natural medicine and integrate it into their practices. He also has authored numerous books, including The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook, which is a gold-standard reference book for health practitioners. About the Sponsor Essential Formulas Incorporated (EFI) was established in 2000 as the sole US distributor of world-renowned microbiologist Dr Iichiroh Ohhira’s award-winning probiotic dietary supplements and skin care products. Always an innovator, EFI introduced REG’ACTIV in 2015, containing ME-3, a probiotic catalyst that produces the “master’” oxidant glutathione inside the body's cells. A family-owned and operated business, EFI was founded on the philosophy of providing high-quality preventative, supportive, and comprehensive pro-health products for the entire family. EFI continues to flourish and grow through a strong company and product integrity and the knowledge that they’re providing scientifically proven products that positively impact the health and well-being of their customers. Transcript Karolyn Gazella: Hello. I'm Karolyn Gazella, the publisher of the Natural Medicine Journal. Today, we have a fascinating topic. We'll be talking about post-biotic metabolites with probiotic expert Dr Ross Pelton who is also an integrative pharmacist. Before we begin, I'd like to thank the sponsor of this interview who is Essential Formulas Incorporated. Dr Pelton, thank you so much for joining me. Ross Pelton, RPh, PhD, CCN: Hi, Karolyn. It's nice to be with you. Gazella: Well the research regarding the human microbiome is really exploding. Why is this so significant? Pelton: Well I like to give people a little historical overview which I think gives us an understanding of how and why this incredible acceleration of research into the microbiome has taken place. I'd like to go back to the Human Genome Project. It took 13 years and billions of dollars to sequence the first human genome. After sequencing the human genome, one of the primary goals of that whole scientific endeavor, they thought once they sequenced the human genome we would be able to get cures for many of our chronic degenerative diseases. That primary goal of the Human Genome Project was a total failure. We did not get any cures for human diseases from the Human Genome Project, but one important thing that we did get was the development of incredible technology and incredible equipment that allowed for much faster and much cheaper sequencing of genomes. That's when scientists started to use this new technology to sequence the genomes of bacteria in the human gastrointestinal tract. They were astounded with what they found, this whole massive population of organisms in the human gastrointestinal tract. Fortunately, our government then went on to fund the Human Microbiome Project. The funding for the Human Microbiome Project coupled with the incredible technology developed in the Human Genome Project allowed scientists to make tremendous progress in exploring and identifying many of the different species and strains of bacteria in the human microbiome. Now, a little historical overview. Bacteria were discovered several hundred years ago, and scientists like Louis Pasteur had a major impact on the development of microbiology and the study of bacteria. But Louis Pasteur was responsible for the gene ... Excuse me. The germ theory of disease. He solved most of the serious diseases of his time. He developed vaccines for them and taught people how to avoid them or limit their problems. He was a global rock star in his lifetime because he solved most of the common diseases of his time. It would be similar if one person today solved Alzheimer's disease and cancer and diabetes and autism or something. It's amazing what he did, but he set in motion this germ theory of disease. For a couple of centuries, most people had the concept that germs or bacteria were bad. They're causing disease and we need to eradicate them. Well another thing that happened along the way is that the only way scientists could study bacteria was extract them from the body, put them on what's called a Petri dish on an auger plate that allows the bacteria to grow, and then they watched them and observed it. A couple hundred years, that's the only way we could study bacteria, but we've recently learned that over 99% of your bacteria are anaerobic which means they can't stand oxygen. For a couple of hundred years, scientists would extract bacteria, put it in the lab to look at it, but it would get exposed to oxygen and die. For several hundred years, we could not study over 99% of the bacteria in our microbiome, but the development of this incredible technology from the Human Genome Project allowed scientists to start to dive into this new area and sequence the genomes of the bacteria and start to learn what they are and how they function. That's what started to kind of explode the research into the human genome, the human microbiome. Also a very interesting thing happened. There's a thing that I refer to as the genome complexity conundrum. This is a fact that, when the human genome was sequenced, we found out that humans have about 23000 genes which is significantly less than scientists thought they would find, but the conundrum is that the common rice plant has around 45000 genes. Scientists are scratching their heads. How could we as evolved beings as we are have only 23000 genes and the common rice plant has over twice as many genes as we do? The answer to this conundrum is the fact that, although we only have 23000 genes, the bacteria in our microbiome have millions of genes. In fact, over 99% of the DNA in your body is the DNA of your bacteria. This starts to open up an understanding of how important it is to create and maintain a healthy population of these bacteria in your microbiome so that they are doing good work for you. Because if you have pathological bacteria, their DNA and their genes are creating bad compounds that cause inflammation and poison you and create all sorts of diseases. This ... We're starting to understand why it is so important to create and maintain a healthy microbiome because your bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract are controlling and regulating vast amounts of your health. Gazella: Well I have- Pelton: It's kind of a little overview for starters. Gazella: Yeah. I have to say I love that historical perspective because it provides the perfect backdrop for today's conversation. Thank you. It was very thorough. Pelton: Sure. Gazella: Now today, I'd like to focus on post-biotic metabolites because, as you have referred to in your recent presentation, this really is a new frontier in probiotic science. Remind us. What are post-biotic metabolites? Pelton: This is another fascinating area, Karolyn. It's just starting to be explored, but it's extremely important when it comes to microbiome science. [inaudible 00:06:39] say in my lectures and seminars the reason probiotic bacteria is important is because of the work they do. The work that they do is that their metabolic processes digest the food that you give them and break it down and, in turn, their metabolic processes produce a wide range of compounds that we're referring to as post-biotic metabolites. What's really important for people to understand is it's these compounds that the bacteria produce that regulate vast amounts of your health, not the bacteria themselves. We're shifting our focus a little bit from putting all our research efforts and all of our money into just identifying and naming different strains of bacteria. Now, we're starting to realize it's probably more important to identify what are the compounds that these bacteria produce, what are the health regulatory effects of these compounds, which strains of bacteria are more efficient and more effective at producing some of these compounds. That's the new frontier in microbiome science. Two months ago, I gave a presentation at the International Probiotic Association's annual convention in Miami. The title of my presentation was Post-biotic Metabolites: The New Frontier in Microbiome Science. This is what we're starting to explore and understand now. Gazella: Yeah. It sees like it's taking this science ... It's giving it a whole new level of complexity. Let's talk a little bit about practical things like what functions do these metabolites serve as it relates to the human microbiome and health in general. Pelton: Sure. That's a good segue here. I'm emphasizing these post-biotic metabolites. What do they do? Well they have a vast number of functions, and in fact, a very highly respected author and scientist in the microbiome arena—his name is Dr Emeran Mayer—wrote a book called The Mind-Gut Connection. In his book, he tells us that your bacteria with their millions of genes will digest your food and produce hundreds of thousands of metabolites. We're just beginning to understand what all these metabolites, these post-biotic metabolites are. Some of their functions, they have antiinflammatory activity. They adjust the acid-base balance in the GI tract. They have cell signaling capabilities. They have detoxification capabilities. They can directly fight and kill pathological bacteria. There's just a wide range of functions. Let me just mention one major class of these post-biotic metabolites. They're called short-chain fatty acids. This is a class of really important post-biotic metabolites produced by your probiotic bacteria. Since they're acids, short-chain fatty acids, they're weak acids, but they create the proper and optimal acid-base balance in the gastrointestinal tract. The optimal acid-base balance is just slightly acidic, but when people have dysbiosis ... That's the term for different types of gastrointestinal problems or you have gas or bloating or diarrhea or constipation or inflammation or pain or whatever. Dysbiosis is the term for these general conditions. When people have dysbiosis or gastrointestinal problems, the acid-base balance goes anywhere from 10 to 100 times too alkaline. If you're going to get the GI tract back to good health, you have to bring it from it's alkalinity back down to its slightly acidic condition, and these short-chain fatty acids produced by the probiotic bacteria readjust and create that optimal slightly acidic acid-base balance. Short-chain fatty acids also have antiinflammatory activity. If you have dysbiosis and gut problems, you've got inflammation. They'll help to dampen that inflammatory fire. Also another really important part of this in the story with the short-chain fatty acids is the fact that the cells that line your gastrointestinal tract have the most rapid rate of turnover of any cell in the human body. People don't realize this. Most people don't, but you create a whole new digestive tract every 6 to 10 days. It takes an enormous amount of energy for the body to continually generate these new cells in the lining of the gastrointestinal tract, and you do not get the energy to produce these new cells from your blood supply. The energy comes from short-chain fatty acids like butyric acid that are produced by your probiotic bacteria, these post-biotic metabolites. These are just some of the ways one class of post-biotic metabolites, the short-chain fatty acids, contribute to a wide range of health-related things related to your gastrointestinal tract. Gazella: Now, can you expand a little bit more on the mechanisms of action and how these metabolites kind of work on our behalf? I mean the short-chain fatty acids is a great example. Pelton: Sure. Again, there's a wide range of these different compounds, and so there's different mechanisms depending on what post-biotic metabolite the particular strain of bacteria are producing. This gives me a chance to emphasize a really important point, Karolyn. A healthy microbiome is a widely diverse microbiome. By diversity, I mean a lot of different types of probiotic bacteria. It's not enough just to have high numbers but only a few different types. You want to have lower numbers but a wide range of different types of bacteria. If you have diversity of bacteria, you'll have a lot more bacteria producing different types of health regulatory compounds, and the way to create a diverse microbiome is to consume a diverse diet. You have to consume a wide range of different high-fiber foods because these are the foods that your bacteria require. The fibers in multi-colored vegetables especially, that's the number one food group for your probiotic bacteria. Then there's also multi-colored vegetables and various other types of foods that are high in fiber, but our human body cannot digest these fibers. They go through your system into your colon, your large intestine, and that's where your probiotic bacteria start to digest them. That's the food for your probiotic bacteria. Yes, it's important to take probiotics, but you have to learn how to feed your probiotic bacteria well. If you don't, they will not thrive and survive. Here's a couple of examples of some other mechanisms and how they work on our behalf. Some probiotic bacteria produce a wide range of compounds called antimicrobial peptides. Scientists just abbreviate these as AMPs, but antimicrobial peptides are very small amino acid chains or I describe them as small fragments of proteins. They specifically have antibiotic effects, but they have a narrow range of effectiveness. They are only damaging to pathological bacteria. They don't harm your good bacteria whereas prescription antibiotics are called broad-spectrum. They kill everything, your good and your bad, but the natural antibiotics produced by your microbiome and your probiotic bacteria as antimicrobial peptides are only going to function or be active against pathologic organisms. It's an important part of your immune system. These natural antibiotics being produced in a healthy microbiome are sometimes suppressing the growth of any bad bacteria that happen to be resident in your gut. Another example, there's lactobacillus fermentum ME-3. It's a very unique strain of probiotic bacteria that synthesizes glutathione. Glutathione is a post-biotic metabolite of that particular strain of probiotic bacteria. I could go on and on. There are many different types of post-biotic metabolites. Just a couple of general classes, your probiotic bacteria are little chemical manufacturing plants. They make all the B vitamins and Vitamin K and some of the critical amino acids. They make some of our most important nutrients. That's really a source of some of our nutrition. That's a little overview of some of the things and some of the ways that some of these other post-biotic metabolites are helping us. Gazella: Yeah. Those are some great examples. I have to say, when I knew that I was going to talk to you about this topic, I jumped online to do a literature search and I was actually quite surprised at the amount of research specifically about post-biotic metabolites. Can you tell us about some of the more recent studies that you have enjoyed reading about in the scientific literature? Pelton: Sure. Well I'm very excited having learned that a strain of bacteria called lactobacillus fermentum ME-3 can produce glutathione. Glutathione is one of the most important compounds in the human body. We call it the master antioxidant. It's produced in every cell in your body, and glutathione probably protects more of your body than all the other antioxidants combined. Glutathione also is the master regulator of all your detoxification. Being able to boost your glutathione levels by taking a strain of probiotic bacteria everyday is really a breakthrough in health and medicine. That's a pretty unique, new understanding of one particular strain of probiotic bacteria. Another thing that's very exciting to me is that, last year in Japan, there was some independent research done on Dr Ohhira's Probiotics which is a brand of probiotics that's produced in a fermentation process that's different than all other types of probiotics on the market. The fermentation process used in the production of Dr Ohhira's Probiotics allows the final product to contain over 400 post-biotic metabolites. This is a real interesting, new viewpoint and insight into how probiotic bacteria work where you've got a probiotic, Dr Ohhira's Probiotic by brand name, that's produced in a multi-year fermentation process -- and I'll explain that in just a moment -- but the end product contains 400 of these post-biotic metabolites. Let me explain this fermentation process and how these post-biotic metabolites are produced. We start out with big fermentation vats in a sterile warehouse. They start out with 12 strains of probiotic bacteria. Then they, at seasonally appropriate times, harvest and shred dozens of different types of organically grown foods: mushrooms, vegetables, seaweeds, fruits, and so forth. Then the bacteria get to grow and digest and ferment these foods for 3 years before the product is ready for encapsulation. During that 3-year fermentation process the bacteria in those fermentation vats are breaking down the food and producing this wide range of post-biotic metabolites. With Dr Ohhira's Probiotics, we are not so much impressed by the probiotic bacteria we're delivering. We're really focusing on the delivery of these post-biotic metabolites. We get what we call rapid microbiome restoration because we're not just supplying somebody with bacteria in a capsule. We're directly delivering these post-biotic metabolites. Other companies that supply probiotics, you have a capsule with bacteria in it. Those bacteria haven't done any work yet. It's like a starter culture. When you take those bacteria, they have to go into your system, start to try to find the proper foods that they need so that their metabolic processes can begin to start to produce some of these post-biotic metabolites that are responsible for improving the health of the gastrointestinal tract. But with Dr Ohhira's, we're directly putting in over 400 post-biotic metabolites. We quickly readjust the acid-base balance and suppress inflammation and start to heal the leaky gut or intestinal permeability problems and have some detoxification capabilities and start to work against some of the allergies that might be present in the GI tract. It's a very fast, rapid way of addressing gastrointestinal problems. Gazella: Yeah. I'll disclose to our listeners that I actually have been taking the Dr Ohhira brand of probiotics for a lot of years actually now. I have been impressed with the product. You're telling me something very, very new though. I had no idea about the 400 post-biotic metabolites and this delivery of all these post-biotic metabolites. I've always loved the fermentation process and all the organic foods that are put in there in a 3-year period, and there's just so much that I love about the product. This kind of adds a new level of complexity to this particular product. I'd like to stay on the Dr Ohhira product just because I always like to clarify dosages and ... Now, how many strains, again, are in the Dr Ohhira product? Pelton: There's 12 strains that we use to start the process, but again, I want to kind of emphasize that our product is really what we call a complete microbiome product because it doesn't just have probiotic bacteria. It's got probiotic bacteria plus some of the prebiotic food supply that was present in the fermentation process, and most importantly, it's got this wide range of post-biotic metabolites. We just redesigned the packaging for Dr Ohhira's Probiotics, and on the new package, there are 3 different arrows that go in a circular direction. The 3 individual areas, the words inside the arrows say probiotics, prebiotics, and post-biotics. The post-biotic arrow is right front and center on the package. We're trying to emphasize to people the importance of this topic of post-biotic metabolites and Dr Ohhira's specifically delivering post-biotic metabolites. There is no other probiotic in the world that we know of that is produced in this multi-year fermentation process that allows the direct delivery of post-biotic metabolites. Gazella: So as a result, do you dose this differently than you would a typical probiotic? Am I able to maybe use less? How do you handle the dosing of this? Pelton: Sure. The recommended dosage is 2 capsules daily. I'll give just a little recommendation on some other uses of it. If people have food poisoning and it's very common when people travel, get some bad food, and get sick pretty quickly, then I advise them to bite and squeeze the contents out of Dr Ohhira's and swallow it that way because the capsule in Dr Ohhira's is a patented delivery system where the capsule actually stays hard in the harsh acid environment in the stomach and then it becomes porous in the more alkaline pH in the small intestine. So it preferentially releases the contents in the small intestine. But if you've got food poisoning, if you've got bad bacteria directly in your stomach, you want to bite the capsules, squeeze the contents out so it gets directly into your stomach and start to fight the bacteria locally in the stomach. I have people who chew 5 to 10 capsules and do it every 20 or 30 minutes, and it clears food poisoning out very quickly for most people. Another thing to emphasize is that, in the fermentation process, the bacteria learn to grow and thrive and survive at room temperature. Dr Ohhira's does not need to be refrigerated. That's a very nice user-friendly part of Dr Ohhira's. Also because of this patented capsule design, you don't have to worry about food. It can be empty stomach, can be with meals, after meals, makes no difference. Main thing is everyday get them in. If I'm working with somebody that has Crohn's disease or colitis or irritable bowel syndrome, some of these really serious GI problems, I personally suggest they try taking 5 to 10 capsules daily, maybe 5 capsules twice a day for a period of 10 days or longer until you start to get improvement because you want to power these post-biotic metabolites and start to accelerate the change. Some relatively new information, SIBO is a condition that is getting a lot more press these days, becoming more recognized as a fairly widespread condition. SIBO stands for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth where you have bad bacteria that normally reside in the colon, but they backed up into the small intestine and then they digest foods there. They're in the wrong location in the GI tract. They produce a lot of gas and bloating and diarrhea. So a lot of people with SIBO can't tolerate probiotics, but with Dr Ohhira's Probiotics, we're not primarily delivering probiotic bacteria. We're delivering the post-biotic metabolites. Many people on SIBO will find that Dr Ohhira's is very helpful. Gazella: Interesting. An interesting note too, it doesn't taste bad. I've actually opened up the capsule and put it on a little part of my gum. Pelton: I'm glad you brought that up, Karolyn, because that's another recommendation I make. There are a couple of dentists that make this recommendation, and I myself do it personally. Several nights a week at bedtime, I will take one capsule and bite it in my mouth and squeeze the contents out and swish it around in my mouth before swallowing it. This helps support a healthy oral microbiome. It helps to suppress gingivitis and periodontal disease and things like that. We're not calling it a treatment for these conditions. You're just trying to support the health of your oral cavity and a good healthy oral microbiome. Gazella: Yeah, absolutely. Probiotic supplementation and probiotic science has really come a long way. There was a time when we thought that all you had to do is eat a little yogurt and you're good to go. Then there was the exciting research regarding prebiotics and synbiotics. Now, there's this topic of post-biotic metabolites. What does the future hold when it comes to this exciting area of study that seems to be moving quite rapidly? Pelton: Well I think the future is in post-biotic metabolites because ... In fact, even pharmaceutical companies, drug company industry is starting to look at post-biotic metabolites and realizing that there's potential for them to develop new drugs on these naturally occurring compounds that are produced by your probiotic bacteria. These are compounds that are natural to the human body. It's not like they're putting a foreign chemical into your body. As I mentioned earlier, Dr Mayer, in his book The Mind-Gut Connection. He's telling us that your probiotic bacteria produce hundreds of thousands of metabolites. I think the future will be less emphasis on just trying to name and identify strains of bacteria, but learn more about what are the compounds, what are the post-biotic metabolites that these bacteria make, what are the health regulatory effects of these compounds, which bacteria are more efficient at producing these compounds. I think that's really the new area, new era, new frontier of microbiome research. It really is very exciting because we're really starting to understand that the microbiome is the foundation of your health at all levels. There's a physician by the name of Alessio Fasano who discovered the primary cause of leaky gut and intestinal permeability which happens when you have inflammation, it opens up your tight junctions in your GI tract and allows toxic things to leak into your system. Dr Fasano says that 2 main causes of inflammation and leaky gut are gluten and bad bacteria. I recommend that everybody be on a gluten-free diet. Then we need to clean the gut up. I did a presentation a month ago at the American Association of Antiaging Medicine Conference, and my topic was Natural Therapies for ADD and ADHD. One of my primary messages is scientists are looking for the answers for autism and ADD and ADHD in the brain. Don't look in the brain. The answer is in the gut. We have to heal the gut and heal this intestinal permeability problem because if you have leaky gut, you have leaky brain. We mean your blood-brain barrier is leaky and some of these toxins are getting into your brain. You have gut inflammation. You have brain inflammation. We have to focus on the gut, and one of the most serious worldwide health dilemmas right now is the rapid rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Many of the people listening to this probably are familiar with MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staph aureus. There's hardly any antibiotics that are effective against it anymore. Now, we've got antibiotic-resistant [inaudible 00:29:33] and antibiotic-resistant tuberculosis on the rise. We have to understand that we have to reduce our reliance on antibiotics and increase our reliance on good bacteria. We need more bugs, not drugs. The rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a global health crisis, and you don't want to have a weak immune system and wait until you get sick because scientists are talking about a post-antibiotic era where antibiotics are not going to be effective anymore. We won't be able to have Cesarean births and we won't be able to have our appendix out or our teeth cleaned because, if you get an infection, you're dead. The answer to the problem is to have a good healthy diet with lots of fiber-rich foods to create a diverse microbiome which gives you a healthy immune system. That's the way to stay away from all these antibiotic prescriptions. That's my little rant on that topic. Gazella: No. It makes a lot of sense. I have to say that human microbiome research is fascinating and so important. This new research on post-biotic metabolites resulting from probiotics just really adds a lot to the conversation that we need to have about -- excuse me -- the human microbiome. Don't you agree? Pelton: I agree totally. I think this is the next level of understanding of how and why the microbiome is important and gives people a little bit more insight into why it's so important to learn how to create and maintain a healthy microbiome so you can have many different types of bacteria producing all these health regulatory post-biotic metabolites so that, in turn, you will have a healthy immune system. Gazella: Absolutely. Well this has been a great interview with a lot of great, important information. Once again, I'd like to thank the sponsor of this interview who is Essential Formulas Incorporated. Thank you, Dr Pelton, for joining me today. Pelton: My pleasure. Nice to be with you, Karolyn. Gazella: Have a great day. Pelton: You bet. Bye-bye.

Ross, also known as the Natural Pharmacist, is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist. He received his Ph.D. in Psychology and holistic health. He has written  10 books including “The Pill Problem: How to protect your health from the side effects of oral contraceptives” and “The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs”, and in 1999, he was named one of the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in the U.S. by American Druggist magazine for my educational work in natural medicine. In today’s show we talk about his book “The Pill Problem,” and the different side effects that are associated with hormonal contraceptives. Today's episode is sponsored by my 10 Week Fertility Awareness Mastery Group Program. The next session begins in July 2018! You are invited to join us in the Fertility Awareness Mastery program! You'll have an opportunity to master Fertility Awareness, take a deep dive into your cycles, gain confidence charting your cycles, and gain deep insights into the connection between your health, your fertility, and your cycles. Click here to apply now! Don’t forget to sign up for my FREE FAM 101 video series. Click here for access. Topics discussed in today's episode: Why the pill causes more nutrient deficiencies compared to all other drugs How the changes your physiology and pheromone production The relationship between the pill and deficiencies in B vitamins (such as folate, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12) in particular Why every woman taking the pill (or other hormonal contraceptives) should take a good multivitamin to counter some degree of nutrient depletion The connection between the pill, nutrient deficiencies, and depression The relationship between the pill and sleep problems What is the most common reason women stop taking the pill? What about women who report that they experienced no side effects while on the pill? Why the pill increases your chances of developing a yeast infection The cumulative effect of nutrient depletion over time How does the pill contribute to the increased risk of blood clots and stroke? Are doctors aware of the most common side effects associated with hormonal contraceptives? Does the pill reduce your risk of developing cancer? Connect with Ross: You can connect with Ross on his Website, on Facebook, and on Twitter. Resources mentioned: The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs book by Ross Pelton The Pill Problem book by Ross Pelton The Pill Problem Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook by Ross Pelton The Smart Women's Choice Natural Pharmacist Fertility Awareness 101 FREE Video Series Fertility Friday Programs Fertility Friday Facebook Group Related podcasts & blog posts: FFP 182 | Depression, Weight Gain & Mood Disorders | The Truth About Hormonal Birth Control | Lisa & Lorena FFP 180 | Managing Painful Periods | Dysmenorrhea | Endometriosis | Dr. Lara Briden, ND FFP 146 | Anxiety, Depression & Low Libido | The Truth About Hormonal Birth Control | LeAnna & Samantha FFP 054 | The MTHFR Gene Mutation and Fertility | Recurrent Miscarriage, Nutrient Deficiencies, and Folic Acid | Diane Keddy Fertility Awareness Episodes | Fertility Friday Join the community! Find us in the Fertility Friday Facebook Group Subscribe to the Fertility Friday Podcast in Apple Podcasts! Music Credit: Intro/Outro music Produced by J-Gantic A Special Thank You to Our Show Sponsor: Fertility Friday | 10 Week Fertility Awareness Mastery Group Program This episode is sponsored by my 10 Week Fertility Awareness Mastery Group Program! Master Fertility Awareness and take a deep dive into your cycles and how they relate to your overall health! Click here to apply now!

  Ross Pelton is the Natural Pharmacist. He received his BS degree in pharmacy from the U. of Wisconsin.  He also has a Ph.D. in psychology and is a Certified Clinical Nutritionist (CCN). In October 1999, Ross was named as one to the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. He is the author of ten books and numerous online health seminars. Ross is currently the Scientific Director for Essential Formulas. The link to his blog and personal WEB site is: naturalpharmacist.net. What we discussed in this episode: Dr. Ross discusses his recommendation for daily supplements.  The liver is the organ of detoxification Telomeres protect your chromozones and DNA. Telomere length represents our biological age as opposed to our chronological age. The higher your glutathione levels the slower the shortening of your telomeres. Elevating glutathione levels is great for anti-aging and detoxification. The supplement of RegActiv helps to elevate glutithione and detoxify the liver.. Your diet is critical to your health. Know what your eating. Is it loaded with GMO's?  Make sure your meat is pasture raised and pasture finished, otherwise you may be eating meat that has GMO's, because they were fed corn at the end. Eighty eight percent of our corn is genetically modified. Dr. Ross recommended reading "The Plant Paradox' If you have bodyfat, you can count on the fact that you have  inflammation. The number one thing for healthy aging is maintaining your muscle mass to prevent sarcopenia.  Reduce inflammation with Omega 3's, increasing your muscle mass, A vitamin D defienciency can upset your sleep cycle Test your fasting blood sugar to know where you fall individually on with your blood sugar levels. Test your blood sugar also to test your reaction to various carbohydrates. Gerson Therapies for cancer and accelerating detoxification. Tips to stay healthy and why you should cut out sugar at the holidays.  

Follow Linda on Social Media @ Chickfitstudio on Facebook Instagram and Twitter and my website is www.chickfit.me Ross Pelton, R.Ph., Ph.D., CNN, graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1966 with a degree in pharmacy and in 1984 he received his Ph.D. in Psychology and Holistic Health from the University for Humanistic Studies in San Diego, California.  He is also a Certified Clinical Nutritionist (CCN) through the International and American Association of Clinical Nutritionists (IAACN). Ross is currently the Scientific Director for Essential Formulas based in Dallas, TX.   Ross has written two books drug-induced nutrient depletions an is the world’s leading authority on this topic. In October 1999, Ross was named as one to the Top 50 Most Influential Pharmacists in America by American Druggist magazine for his work in natural medicine. From 1988 to 1994, Ross was the Hospital Administrator at Hospital Santa Monica in Baja, Mexico, which specialized in alternative, non-toxic cancer therapies.   Ross is the author of ten books: Mind Food & Smart Pills (Doubleday, 1988) Alternatives in Cancer Therapy (Simon & Schuster, 1994) How To Prevent Breast Cancer (Simon & Schuster, 1995) The Drug-Induced Nutrient Depletion Handbook (Lexi-Comp, 1999) The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs (Morton Publishing, 2000) The Natural Therapeutics Pocket Guide (Lexi-Comp, 2000) The Nutritional Cost of Drugs, 2nd Edition (Lexi-Comp, 2001) Natural Therapies to Prevent and Treat Swine Flu (eBook 2010) Let’s Have Healthy Kids (eBook 2010) The Pill Problem (2013) Ross’ online educational seminars include: Natural Therapies for Depression & Anxiety Natural Therapies for ADD & ADHD Natural Therapies to Lower Cholesterol & Reduce Cardiovascular Risks  What we talked about in this episode: Natural alternatives for depression. Natural alternatives for anxiety. L-Theanine is effective at calming anxiety and helping with sleep troubles that can come when you have an overactive mind. The importance of good quality sleep. Natural nutritional therapies for depression. Oral contraceptives deplete more nutrients from women's body than any other commonly prescribed drug. Benefits of yoga for health and stress relief. The number #1 thing for healthy aging is maintaining your muscle mass. Exercise is a positive addiction. Dr. Ross recommended this book- "Biomarkers" 10 determinants of aging you can control by William Evans and Irwin Rosenburg. Microbiome's importance to health The best probiotic to take and why.  Studies that show Dr. Ohhiras probiotics plus creating better endurance, increased hemoglobin, and faster recovery from exercise. The best way to make a quick salad. Check out Ross Pelton's video on YOU TUBE "Salad Buzz".