Healthy Gut, Healthy You: The Personalized Plan to Transform Your Health from the Inside Out

582 Pages·2018·10.14 MB·English

by  Dr Michael Ruscio

Copyright © 2018 Dr. Michael Ruscio
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission
of the publisher.
Published by The Ruscio Institute, LLC, Las Vegas, NV
www.drruscio.com
Edited and Designed by Girl Friday Productions
www.girlfridayproductions.com
Editorial: Judith Bloch, Katherine Richards, and Carrie Wicks
Interior Design: Paul Barrett
Cover Design: 99 Designs
Image Credits: Cover image © Natalia Aggiato/Shutterstock
ISBN (Paperback): 9780999766804
e-ISBN: 9780999766811
First Edition
Printed in the United States of America
Image Credits (Interior) (SS = Shutterstock)
Design elements used throughout: © Marochkina Anastasiia/SS; © Alena Ohneva/SS, © Designua/SS.
p. 20: © BlueRingMedia/SS (both); p. 28: © Peter Hermes Furian/SS, © Juliann/SS; p. 32: Courtesy Roman
Yevseyev Art, romanyevseyev.deviantart.com; p. 33: © Christian Jegou Publiphoto Diffusion/Science
Source; p. 34: Reproduced with permission from JAMA. 2007; 297(9): 969–977 Copyright © (2007)
American Medical Association. All rights reserved.; p. 40: © paper_Owl/SS; p. 51: Reproduced with
permission from Psychoneuroendocrinology Journal. 2015; 53: 233–245.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2015.01.006. Copyright © (2015) Elsevier; p. 51: Reproduced with
permission from Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2013; 131(6):1465–1478.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2013.04.031. Copyright © (2013) Elsevier; p. 55: © erichon/SS, © Matyas
Rehak/SS; p. 75: FODMAPs chart adapted from original BlissfulWriter chart: © Nik Merkulov/SS, © Dan
Kosmayer/SS, © Satit Pecharut/SS, © Coprid/SS, © Tim UR/SS, © Grigor Unkovski/SS, © JIANG
HONGYAN/SS, © Subject Photo/SS; p. 94: © ekler/SS; p. 106: Reproduced with permission from
Autoimmunity Reviews. 2015; 14(6): 479–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2015.01.009. Copyright ©
(2015) Elsevier; p. 131: Courtesy Simon Cotterill, with permission from the Kentucky Cancer Registry; p.
134: © ajt/SS; p. 135: © CebotariN/SS, © nui7711/SS; p. 158: © Robert Adrian Hillman/SS, © Alila
Medical Media/SS; p. 180: © GraphicsRF/SS, © Teguh Mujiono/SS; p. 187: © Africa Studio/SS; p. 234: ©
2003, Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University, P. Dirckx; p. 237: Recreated with
permission from Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2009 Jun; 5(6): 435–442. Copyright © Gastro-Hep
Communications, Inc.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
PART 1: THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR GUT
CHAPTER 1: Understanding Your Gut
CHAPTER 2: The Small Intestine
CHAPTER 3: All Guts Are Not the Same
CHAPTER 4: How to Evaluate Health Recommendations
CHAPTER 5: How Early Life and Environment Impact Your Gut and Immune System
PART 2: DIET FOR OPTIMUM GUT HEALTH
CHAPTER 6: Inflammatory Foods and Foods that Feed Gut Bacteria
CHAPTER 7: Gluten, Celiac Disease, and Nonceliac Gluten Sensitivity
CHAPTER 8: Carbs and Your Gut
CHAPTER 9: Processed Food, Food Additives, and Food Quality
CHAPTER 10: How Important Is Dietary Fiber? You Might Be Surprised
PART 3: LIFESTYLE AND ENVIRONMENTS FOR OPTIMUM GUT
HEALTH
CHAPTER 11: Environmental Toxins, Sun, Vitamin D, and Nature
CHAPTER 12: Sleep: A Fundamental for Gut and Overall Health
CHAPTER 13: Stress and Adrenal Fatigue
PART 4: TOOLS FOR HEALING YOUR GUT
CHAPTER 14: Probiotics
CHAPTER 15: The Stomach and Digestive Acid
CHAPTER 16: Digestive Enzymes
CHAPTER 17: Antibacterial Treatments: Removing the Bad Bugs
CHAPTER 18: The Liquid-Elemental and Semielemental Diets
CHAPTER 19: Prokinetics and Intestinal Motility—Preventing Imbalances from Returning
CHAPTER 20: Fiber Supplements
CHAPTER 21: Prebiotics
CHAPTER 22: Fecal Microbiotal Transplant (Fmt)
PART 5: THE GREAT-IN-8 ACTION PLAN
CHAPTER 23: The Great-In-8—Simple Steps to Heal Your Gut and Regain Your Health
CHAPTER 24: Step 1: Reset
CHAPTER 25: Step 2: Support
CHAPTER 26: Step 3: Remove
CHAPTER 27: Step 4: Rebalance
CHAPTER 28: Step 5: Reintroduce
CHAPTER 29: Step 6: Feed
CHAPTER 30: Step 7: Wean
CHAPTER 31: Step 8: Maintenance and Fun
CHAPTER 32: If You Need More Help—Finding a Good Doctor
CHAPTER 33: Closing Thoughts
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Introduction
I learned the importance of gut health firsthand when I was in my twenties. I had
always been a happy, high-energy guy—I played sports and music, dove deep
into academics, and had a rich social life. And then a series of events began that
would change my entire life.
I noticed that I was always tired. You know those days when you feel like
you’re dragging? We all have days like that once in a while, but I was feeling it
every day. I needed two or three naps a day, had a hard time thinking, and just
wanted to put my head down and rest. I was often cold, and I seemed to be
wearing more clothes than everyone around me. My hair was thinning.
These symptoms certainly weren’t fun, but I wasn’t alarmed. I had a lot on
my plate (school, work, sports), and I wasn’t a kid anymore. I didn’t like the way
I felt, but I could live with it. What else could I do? I was already eating well,
exercising, and getting enough sleep, and I had a happy life.
Then the insomnia started. I would wake up at two in the morning and
wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. It was maddening. I also craved sugar.
Sometimes I would get in my car and drive to the store at three in the morning to
buy a candy bar. When it was time to get up, I was tired. In addition to all this,
for the first time in my life, I was having bouts of depression.
I knew this wasn’t normal. I thought to myself, Time to see a doctor. This is
what doctors are for, right? I saw three doctors: a family doctor, an internist,
and an endocrinologist. It felt good to take action. I was confident a doctor
would find something wrong, we’d fix it, and I’d get on with my life.
Good news and bad news were to follow. The good news was the doctors all
said there was nothing wrong with me. The bad news was the doctors all said
there was nothing wrong with me! Because the doctors could find nothing wrong
with me, they had no recommendations, and apparently there was nothing I
could do.
I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I was a premed
student, working as a personal trainer, and studying holistic nutrition. Because of
this training, I already had myself on a healthy diet and exercise program, but
obviously I needed to take things to the next level. I started reading and studying
everything I could on my symptoms: fatigue, depression, insomnia, feeling cold,
thinning hair, and cravings.
Eventually, my studies brought me to a conclusion that took into account all of
my symptoms. I had hypothyroidism and adrenal fatigue—essentially hormone
imbalances. This had to be the cause of my problems! I started taking a number
of supplements that supported the adrenals and thyroid, and I began to feel
better, about 30% better. This improvement only lasted a few weeks, though, and
then I slowly returned to my unsatisfactory “new normal.” I was crushed. I was
also irritated because I had spent a few hundred dollars on the supplements.
As if things weren’t bad enough, another symptom appeared, this one
perhaps the worst of all: brain fog. I experienced episodes where I felt drunk. It
was hard for me to speak clearly, I couldn’t remember things, and I felt
uncoordinated—like my head was in a fog. This would happen after I ate, but
what I ate didn’t matter; the episodes were completely random. I tried keeping a
food journal, but nothing I ate seemed to correlate with the brain-fog episodes.
I continued with my research, trying to get to the root of my problems. Was I
feeling this way because of low testosterone? I went on a testosterone-boosting
protocol, which, like the last treatment I prescribed for myself, provided about a
30% improvement. And, as before, the improvement was short-lived.
More reading and research followed. Could it be mercury toxicity? I had my
urine tested, and the results showed high levels of mercury and lead. Yes!
Finally! I thought. This has got to be it! I started on a metal detox program and
felt . . . no different. Repeated testing showed that my metal levels had
improved, but my symptoms didn’t change. I finally tried food-allergy testing.
This test showed I was allergic to a whole bunch of foods. I avoided those foods,
which was excruciating because it felt like I was on a four-food diet. I did not
get better.
At this point, I began to wonder if I was crazy. Clearly something wasn’t
right, but nothing I’d tried had worked! I went to a weekend workshop that was
part of my holistic nutrition training, and there I heard about a doctor who
part of my holistic nutrition training, and there I heard about a doctor who
practiced functional medicine, which was apparently the type of practice
everyone in this community went to. I got more information on this doctor, and
it seemed like he did exactly what I needed, but he didn’t take insurance, and I
was a living on a student’s budget. I had to save up to afford a haircut, never
mind pay $300 for an initial exam. But what did I have to lose? At this point I
was desperate; I would have done anything.
This doctor told me he suspected I had a parasitic infection in my intestines.
I remember thinking, Are you kidding me? I don’t have diarrhea or other
digestive symptoms. Fix my insomnia, depression, and brain fog, please!
However, it turned out he was right. I had an infection in my intestines, and this
one thing was the underlying cause of all my symptoms. As I treated this
infection, I experienced slow and steady improvements for all my symptoms.
This time, the improvements lasted. Over the course of a few months, I returned
to normal. What a relief!
I was so moved by my experience and impressed with that doctor, I decided
to follow in his footsteps and practice functional medicine, with a special focus
on digestive health. For the past several years, I’ve helped sick and suffering
people determine the cause of their illnesses and not only get better but vastly
improve their health. It has truly been an honor and a privilege to do this work.
At the same time, I’ve become increasingly concerned for those who find
themselves where I was in my twenties: sick without knowing why, desperately
trying to recover their health.
The amount of medical information that people have access to on the Internet
is staggering. The downside of this is that people are becoming more and more
confused about what to do when they’re sick and can’t figure out why. So many
options, so many opinions . . . you could drown in the possible diagnoses and
treatments. You could self-diagnose and try treatments for thirty years and still
not exhaust the possibilities. What makes matters worse, this sea of information
is polluted by marketing content that’s written and designed to look like science
to sell you a health-care product. As someone who actually performs and
publishes clinical research, I find this appalling. Maybe worst of all, health care
is sometimes looked at as a business rather than a healing profession, and there
is sometimes looked at as a business rather than a healing profession, and there
are those who are clearly taking advantage of the fact sick patients are willing to
spend lots of money to feel better. All of this has created the perfect storm where
health care has become confusing, way too elaborate, and very expensive.
THE REALIZATION
I have been watching as patients find their way to my office after navigating this
increasingly turbulent sea of health-care options. I have often thought to myself,
These patients are going through the same thought process I was, reaching for
any possible solution, grasping for straws, self-diagnosing with hypothyroidism,
adrenal fatigue, food allergies, toxicity . . . I have come to realize what it took to
improve my health is, in fact, true for the majority of these patients: you must
start with the gut. This is the most important area to address when starting on
your health-care journey. Improving the health of your gut will make most other
problems disappear—just like mine did. It’s not guaranteed to fix everything, but
it’s usually the best place to start.
Can this gut-first approach work for you? Let’s look at the stories of a few of
my patients.