Dr Carrie Decker ND reviews a common screening issue and offers some practical tools.

One of the topics that comes up when working with patients in all types of medical or nutritional practices is how to ascertain if disordered eating patterns or attitudes surrounding food may exist. Although a historic eating disorder is not an absolute contraindication to recommending dietary changes, it is important to be aware of as dietary restrictions may trigger deep-rooted reactions very similar to that which existed when one was active in their eating disorder.

So, at what point do you seriously consider being a recipient of another person’s faecal material, surely one would have to be at deaths door to make that determination? Well, your first response may still be ‘Yuck’, even though we have been discussing the merits and potential benefits of triggering a restructuring of the microbiota for some years now. Well let’s say that the implications for beneficial outcome in a wide range of problems exists (subject to finding enough suitable donors) but that Clostrium Difficile resolution is the condition where most are currently preparing to confer credibility.

A paper in Nature back in 2014 noted that artificial non-caloric sweeteners (NAS) when consumed by mice had a detrimental effect of their metabolic health and microbiota, and the authors suggested that this connection may be an indication of risk in humans who consume these additives. The study used three artificial sweeteners: saccharin, sucralose (which is Splenda®), and aspartame.

The use of Saccharomyces Boulardii as a therapeutic intervention in people with alterations in their microbiota and local immune responses has been explored for over 50 years. The multiple points of action this simple yeast initiates in terms of mucosal barrier function and immune competence has made it an attractive and safe product for many clinicians. This study published in Jun 2014 in the American Society for Microbiology explores its role in a mouse model, but opens some interesting prospects for human health.[1]

If you have ever travelled across time zones you will be familiar with the adverse effects on your physical function an loss of clarity and productivity – well it seems that the organisms present in your gut, share the same trip and to some extent the same consequences. Published in Cell researchers explored the consequences of this effect on adiposity and metabolic functionality. Whilst they are naturally cautious about translation from a mouse model to a human one, they noted some interesting observations, that may explain some peoples adverse physical consequences derived in part as a result of cross time zone travel.[1]

Organisms ranging from bacteria to humans have circadian clocks to help them synchronise their biological activities to the time of day. This paper now reveals that gut microbes in mice and humans have circadian rhythms that are controlled by the biological clock of the host in which they reside. Disruption of the circadian clock in the host alters the rhythms and composition of the microbial community, potentially leading to obesity and metabolic problems.

Apples; great for SCFA production, restoring bacterial eubiosis in a disrupted gut and likely able to assist with weight management, say scientists in the journal Food Chemistry.[1] Apples, in general, have shown to protect against human chronic diseases due to their content of fibre and phenolic compounds. These bioactive compounds have low availability and can potentially reach to colon, modulate the balance of bacterial populations in the gut, and influence the host physiology. The apple health benefits are, in part, due to the interaction of fibre and phenolics with gut microbiota that results in changes in phenolic bioavailability and activity, and the production of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) after fibre fermentation.

Oh Boy… the journal Nature has this week (9.10.14) identified the insidious effect of consuming ‘diet’ or non caloric sweeteners on the burgeoning mass of human adipocytes and they have really taken a good run at it.[1]

Non-caloric artificial sweeteners (NAS) were introduced over a century ago as means for providing sweet taste to foods without the associated high energy content of caloric sugars. NAS consumption gained much popularity owing to their reduced costs, low caloric intake and perceived health benefits for weight reduction and normalization of blood sugar levels.[2] For these reasons, NAS are increasingly introduced into commonly consumed foods such as diet sodas, cereals and sugar-free desserts, and are being recommended for weight loss and for individuals suffering from glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

For more than a century, American and English parents have prodded their kids to drink three daily glasses of milk, but now the tide may be turning against this once seemingly essential beverage. A commentary published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics questions the value of three servings of milk daily and whether the harm outweighs the benefits when people drink reduced-fat milk instead of whole milk.[1]

An editorial article out in the New England Journal of medicine has raised some interesting revisits to the questions concerning beverage selection and risk for obesity.[1] In particular the depressing increase in adolescent obesity not only in developed but developing countries because of the significant future health complications that spill out from these issues.

Sugars contained in soft drinks represent a substantial source of caloric intake in the USA and are likely to be similar here in the UK – that is almost 15% of daily calories are derived from soft drinks sweetened with sugar.

A provocative article published in Nature Immunology[1] identifies the abject failure of public health’s policy of targeting diet and lifestyle changes in the reversal of the obesity epidemic. They also identify that obesity is a pro inflammatory state and as such promotes many of the chronic non infectious diseases and weakens immune resistance to infections that contribute to early death.