Naturopathic Treatment for Digestive Concerns
4 R’s of Gut Healing
- Remove: Processed foods, common triggers and unique triggers specific to your own biochemistry utilizing the IgG food intolerance test .Alcohol, coffee, processed food, and food additives are culprits to destroying the gut lining as well as gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, NSAIDS and other medication. Eradicating pathogenic bacteria is useful in the first stage.
- Replace: Gut healing foods, nourishing broths, various types of natural anti-inflammatories. These include but are not limited to bone broths, soothing vegetables and other herbal supplements to support the release of hydrochloric acid and digestive enzymes.
- Re-inoculate: Flood the body with good quality high dose pre and probiotics. Dietary fibre, gut loving foods are added to support the healthy flourishing of certain strains of good bacteria while eradicating other commensal ones that may be wreaking havoc
- Repair/Rebalance: This step is key to ensure the optimal gut health is sustained. Includes nutritional support, lifestyle management, stress management, avoiding triggers and preventing relapses using specific botanicals, nutrients and amino acids.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Irritable Bowel Syndrome is one of the leading causes of unexplained digestive discomfort brought forth to physicians. Irritable bowel can be cause constipation, diarrhea or mixed types.
It is a disorder of the motility as well as the sensitivity of the nerves of the intestine. Although normal functioning is impaired, there are however no physical not structural abnormalities that can be found. Endoscopes, a colonoscopy and other imaging studies, biopsies, or blood tests are all within normal range. There is a strong psychological/emotional component to the symptoms of IBS sepcifically tied to the enteric nervous system (the nervous system of the digestive tract) Thus, IBS is identified by the characteristics of the symptoms and a detailed history and lifestyle factors are taken into consideration once a proper lab/imaging work up has been completed.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease consists of 2 conditions Crohns disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Although these two conditions are similar in that they are chronic and possess numerous similarities they have specific differences. Crohn’s disease has the potential to affect almost any part of the digestive tract, whereas Ulcerative Colitis predominately affects only the large intestine.
The cause of inflammatory bowel disease is not known, but evidence suggests that normal intestinal bacteria inappropriately trigger an immune reaction in people with a genetic predisposition.
Inflammatory bowel disease affects people of all ages but usually a diagnosis in made before the age of 30. Sigmoidoscopy and biomarkers such as ESR, CRP and stool fecal calprotectin are used to diagnose IBD and/or distinguish it from irritable bowel syndrome.
The goal from an alternative perspective is to bring down inflammation, allow for an increase in a variety of foods support all systems of the body through nutrition, herbs and stress management.

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
The normal steady movement of intestinal contents (peristalsis) is important to help maintain a proper balance of bacteria in the small intestine. Conditions in which intestinal contents slow or pool in one place allow excess bacteria to grow.
The excess bacteria consume nutrients, including carbohydrates and vitamin B12, leading to lower calorie intake and vitamin B12 deficiency. The bacteria also split bile salts, which are secreted by the liver to aid digestion. The loss of bile salts causes difficulty absorbing fats, leading to diarrhea and poor nutrition.
Symptoms of SIBO include bloating, diarrhea, fatigue, abdominal distension, abdominal pain or discomfort and low energy. The frequency and severity of symptoms likely reflect both the degree of bacterial overgrowth along with the extent of inflammation within the mucosal lining.

Candida/Yeast Overgrowth
Candida albicans is a common type of yeast that is predominately found in the mouth, GI tract as well as the vaginal tract. It is also found in the skin and other membranes. Candida albicans cannot be fully eradicated but when there is an overgrowth of this yeast it creates a whole plethora of other concerns. Causes of an overgrowth of Candida include a high refined sugar diet, PCOS, a suboptimal immune system, stress, poor diet etc. An overproduction of candida also leads to leaky gut syndrome allowing for small particles to enter the blood stream.
Symptoms of an overgrowth of Candida include brain fog, itchy skin, weight loss difficulty (due to biofilms), fatigue and a whole array of other negative symptoms. Antimicrobial therapy, dietary changes, exercise, stress management all play a significant role in the treatment and reduction of Candida albicans.

H.Pylori
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a bacterial infection that causes stomach inflammation (gastritis), peptic ulcer disease, and certain types of stomach cancer. Diagnosis is made using the Urea breath test.
Conventional treatment requires triple antibiotic therapy. This leads to a vicious cycle of repeated antibiotic use leading to a severe imbalance within the gut microbiome. There are tried and tested natural supplements and dietary intervention in the treatment and reduction of the severity and proliferation of the H.Pylori bacteria.


Frequently Ask Questions?
First a full medical history is gathered and then the appropriate labs/imaging is requested. Based on that a unique protocol including nutritional changes, supplements, botanicals and lifestyle factors are recommended.
Leaky gut refers to a compromised digestive system. Increased intestinal permeability is the ability for things to move through the intestinal lining due to a barrier that is no longer fully intact. Certain symptoms and functional labs/blood tests can indicate the impermeability of the gut.
The time frame depends on both compliance to the protocols recommended but on average 8-12 weeks of strict adherence to diet and supplement recommendations will yield positive results.
Digestive issues can be due to a number of factors related to extreme stress, low stomach acid, food intolerance, bacterial overgrowths, parasites and excessive amounts of processed or even healthy foods rich in sulphur and fibre.
The IgG food intolerance test allows us to gain insight whether there is inflammation at the cellular level of the enteric nervous system. A strict nutritional protocol is provided to help remove triggering foods for a duration of time until the gut lining begins to heal.
- Gut Microbiome Stool Testing
- Food intolerance testing (blood)
- Yeast/Parasite Testing (stool testing)
- SIBO Hydrogen Breathe Test
- H.Pylori Urea Breath Test
- Zonulin testing for gut integrity
- Fecal Calprotectin (blood)
- Celiac Testing
- Nutritional Deficiency Assessment
- Imaging/Scopes (through MD)