Is the Gut the Gateway to Disease? | Yousef Elyaman | TEDxOcala

Summary

In this video, a doctor turned functional medicine practitioner emphasizes the importance of addressing the root cause of diseases, often linked to gut health. The speaker shares three patient stories—Bill with heart disease, Sally with thyroid issues, and Martha with restless leg syndrome—all of which were traced back to gut problems. By applying functional medicine principles, including dietary changes and stress management, the patients experienced significant health improvements, highlighting the gut's role as both a gateway to disease and a path to healing.

Takeaways

• 👨‍⚕️ The speaker, a doctor, became frustrated with traditional medicine's symptom-based treatment and turned to functional medicine to find root causes of diseases.
• 🌱 Functional medicine focuses on identifying and treating the root cause of diseases, rather than just managing symptoms.
• 🌳 The concept of functional medicine is likened to a tree, where the branches and leaves are symptoms, and the roots are the underlying causes of diseases.
• 🔍 The doctor emphasizes that many diseases start in the gut, which is a central theme in the script.
• 🤔 The script introduces three patients, Bill, Sally, and Martha, each with different diagnoses, but all linked back to gut issues.
• 💊 Bill's heart disease was traced back to long-term use of acid blockers, which can lead to cardiovascular issues.
• 🌾 Sally's thyroid disease was connected to a diet high in processed foods and gluten, causing 'leaky gut' and molecular mimicry.
• 🍼 Martha's restless leg syndrome was linked to being bottle-fed, leading to an imbalance in gut bacteria and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).
• 🍽️ The doctor uses dietary changes, stress management, and other lifestyle interventions as part of the treatment plans for these patients.
• 🌟 The script concludes that the gut is not only the gateway to disease but also to healing and health.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial frustration with traditional medical practice?

The speaker was frustrated because they were only listening to symptoms and prescribing medication for those symptoms or doing tests and prescribing medication based on test results, but their patients sometimes didn't feel better or even felt worse.

What is functional medicine according to the speaker?

Functional medicine is described as 'root cause medicine', focusing on identifying and addressing the underlying causes of disease rather than just treating symptoms.

Why did the speaker become interested in functional medicine?

The speaker became interested in functional medicine after realizing that traditional methods were not effectively addressing the root causes of their patients' health issues and that disease often starts in the gut.

What is the significance of the gut in the context of disease according to the speaker?

The gut is considered the gateway to disease because many health issues can be traced back to gut-related problems such as indigestion, acid blockers' side effects, and imbalances in gut bacteria.

How did Bill's use of acid blockers contribute to his heart disease?

Bill's use of acid blockers led to a decrease in stomach acid, which is necessary to kill bacteria and viruses, activate vitamins and minerals, and aid digestion. Blocking acid can increase a blood level called ADMA, making blood vessels less pliable and contributing to cardiovascular disease.

What is 'leaky gut' and how is it related to Sally's thyroid disease?

Leaky gut, or increased intestinal permeability, is a condition where the intestinal wall allows large particles to leak into the bloodstream. This can lead to the immune system attacking these particles. In Sally's case, gluten leaking into her bloodstream caused her body to produce antibodies that also attacked her thyroid gland, leading to thyroid disease.

What is molecular mimicry and how does it relate to Sally's condition?

Molecular mimicry occurs when a molecule from food, like gluten, resembles a part of the body, like the thyroid gland. The immune system, trying to attack the foreign molecule, mistakenly attacks the similar body part, causing autoimmune reactions like thyroid disease.

How did Martha's diagnosis of restless leg syndrome relate to her gut health?

Martha's restless leg syndrome was linked to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which can be caused by imbalances in gut bacteria. Specific strains of bacteria can produce toxins that irritate nerves, leading to symptoms like restless leg syndrome.

What is the role of stress management, sleep hygiene, and exercise in treating patients with gut-related diseases?

Stress management, sleep hygiene, and exercise are integral parts of a functional medicine approach. They help address factors that can influence gut health and overall well-being, contributing to the healing process.

How did the speaker's approach to treating Bill, Sally, and Martha differ from their initial diagnoses?

The speaker used a functional medicine approach to identify the root causes of their conditions in the gut and addressed those, rather than just treating the symptoms or diagnoses given by conventional medicine.

What is the significance of the tree analogy used by the speaker?

The tree analogy is used to illustrate that just as a tree's health depends on its roots, human health depends on addressing the root causes, which in many cases start in the gut.

Outlines

00:00

👨‍⚕️ Journey to Functional Medicine

The speaker, a medical doctor, narrates their journey from traditional medical practice to functional medicine. Initially frustrated with the symptomatic treatment approach, they discovered functional medicine through a workshop. They learned two key principles: finding the root cause of disease and understanding that many diseases originate in the gut. The speaker's practice shifted towards applying these principles, focusing on root cause medicine. They use the analogy of a tree to explain the importance of addressing the roots for overall health.

05:01

💊 The Hidden Link Between Medications and Gut Health

The speaker discusses the story of Bill, a patient diagnosed with heart disease. Bill's journey began with indigestion, leading to the use of acid blockers. The speaker explains how blocking stomach acid can have negative effects, such as increasing ADMA levels, which can contribute to cardiovascular disease. They then describe how a functional medicine approach, including stress management, sleep, and exercise prescriptions, helped Bill address the root cause of his issues, which was related to his diet and acid blocking, leading to improved health.

10:02

🌾 The Impact of Diet on Gut Health and Disease

The speaker shares Sally's story, who was diagnosed with thyroid disease. Sally's diet, rich in processed foods and gluten, led to a leaky gut, allowing large particles to enter the bloodstream. This triggered an immune response, leading to molecular mimicry where antibodies against gluten mistakenly attacked the thyroid gland. The functional medicine approach involved identifying and addressing the root causes, such as leaky gut and molecular mimicry, through dietary changes and supplements, which resolved her thyroid issues.

15:05

🍼 Early Life Factors and Gut Health

The speaker tells Martha's story, who was diagnosed with restless leg syndrome. Martha was bottle-fed, which can lead to an imbalance of gut bacteria. Repeated antibiotic use due to infections further disrupted her gut microbiome, leading to small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). This overgrowth produced toxins that irritated nerves, causing her symptoms. Using functional medicine tools, Martha was put on a low FODMAP diet, probiotics, and other interventions to address the root cause of her condition, leading to her recovery.

🌟 The Gut: Gateway to Disease and Healing

In the concluding paragraph, the speaker summarizes the three patient stories, emphasizing the gut's role in both disease and healing. They highlight how dietary choices significantly influenced the patients' health issues and their recovery. The speaker reiterates the importance of functional medicine in identifying and addressing the root causes of diseases, which often lie in the gut.

Keywords

💡Functional Medicine

Functional medicine is a healthcare approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease rather than just treating symptoms. In the video, the doctor transitions from traditional symptom-based treatment to functional medicine, which led to better patient outcomes. The approach is likened to examining the roots of a tree for health, indicating that a healthy body requires a healthy foundation, often linked to gut health.

💡Root Cause

The root cause refers to the underlying reason for a disease or health issue, as opposed to just treating the symptoms. The video emphasizes the importance of finding and addressing the root cause of diseases, such as heart disease, thyroid issues, and restless leg syndrome, which were all traced back to gut problems in the patients' stories.

💡Gut Health

Gut health is a central theme in the video, presented as the 'gateway to disease' and also the key to healing. The doctor explains how various health issues, including heart disease and thyroid problems, can originate from the gut. The script provides examples of how patients' gut health was compromised, leading to broader health problems.

💡Acid Blockers

Acid blockers are medications that reduce stomach acid production. In the video, the doctor discusses how their long-term use can lead to health issues by preventing the natural functions of stomach acid, such as killing bacteria and aiding digestion. Bill's story illustrates how reliance on acid blockers can contribute to heart disease.

💡Leaky Gut

Leaky gut, or increased intestinal permeability as mentioned in the video, is a condition where the lining of the small intestine becomes more permeable than it should be. This allows undigested food, bacteria, and waste to enter the bloodstream, causing inflammation and various health problems. Sally's story in the video is used to explain how a leaky gut can lead to autoimmune reactions and thyroid disease.

💡Molecular Mimicry

Molecular mimicry is a process where the body's immune system mistakes its own proteins for foreign substances due to their similarity to those foreign substances. In the context of the video, gluten is described to have regions similar to the thyroid gland, leading the body to attack its own thyroid gland after attacking gluten, exemplified in Sally's case of hypothyroidism.

💡Stress Management

Stress management is a key component of the functional medicine approach highlighted in the video. It involves techniques and strategies to deal with stress, which can have profound effects on health. Each patient's treatment plan includes a stress management prescription, indicating its importance in addressing the root causes of their health issues.

💡Sleep Hygiene

Sleep hygiene refers to the practices and conditions that are conducive to sleep, including a regular sleep schedule, a quiet and dark environment, and avoiding stimulants before bedtime. In the video, the doctor includes sleep hygiene as part of the personalized treatment plans for patients, emphasizing its role in overall health and recovery.

💡Exercise Prescription

An exercise prescription is a personalized plan of physical activity tailored to an individual's needs and goals. The video mentions that each patient was given an exercise prescription as part of their functional medicine treatment, underscoring the importance of physical activity in health and disease management.

💡Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

SIBO is a condition where an excessive amount of bacteria, particularly harmful types, grow in the small intestine. In Martha's case in the video, SIBO is identified as the root cause of her restless leg syndrome. The doctor explains how poor dietary choices and antibiotic use can lead to SIBO, which in turn can cause nerve irritation and various symptoms.

💡Low FODMAP Diet

The low FODMAP diet is a diet that restricts certain types of carbohydrates to help improve gut health. In the video, Martha with SIBO is placed on a low FODMAP diet as part of her treatment to reduce the food sources that feed the harmful bacteria overgrowing in her small intestine, thus addressing the root cause of her symptoms.

Highlights

The doctor's journey from traditional medicine to functional medicine.

The importance of addressing the root cause of disease.

The concept that disease often starts in the gut.

The realization that traditional medical education often overlooks the gut's role in health.

How functional medicine principles led to improved patient outcomes.

The analogy of a tree to explain the importance of the gut in overall health.

The story of Bill, diagnosed with heart disease, and the connection to gut health.

The role of acid blockers in creating cardiovascular issues.

The impact of diet on heart disease and the functional medicine approach to treatment.

Sally's story of thyroid disease linked to gut health.

The concept of 'leaky gut' or increased intestinal permeability.

Molecular mimicry and its role in autoimmune diseases.

Martha's diagnosis of restless leg syndrome and its root cause in gut health.

The role of antibiotics and poor diet in creating small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).

How a low FODMAP diet and probiotics helped Martha overcome restless leg syndrome.

The overarching message that the gut is the gateway to both disease and healing.

The conclusion that food plays a significant role in both illness and the healing process.

Transcripts

[Music]

[Applause]

let's start with a question is the gut

the gateway to

disease for as long as I could remember

I wanted to be a doctor I went to

medical school I went to residency I

opened up my own practice I started

seeing patience and I got

frustrated I realized that all I was

doing was listening to symptoms and

giving medication for those symptoms or

I was doing tests and based on those

test results giving medication and

sometimes people didn't feel better they

actually felt worse and I realized there

had to be a better way there had to be a

better way of doing it so I started to

research and I I continued to look for

different ways that I could help my

patients and I came across the term

functional

medicine and it interested me so I ended

up going to a workshop in this concept

of functional medicine and I thoroughly

enjoyed it I want to share with you just

two principles that I learned from that

Workshop the

first disee the first you should always

go to the root cause of disease go back

to the basics look for the root cause

and the second was disease usually

starts in the gut now this may seem

simple this may seem intuitive you may

think hey why the heck didn't you know

this well I'll tell you the truth that's

not how we were taught so I started

using these principles with my patients

and they started to get better so I

figured I need to look deeper into this

functional medicine thing and I did I

ended up certifying in functional

medicine and the whole focus of the

practice was changed towards the the

principles of functional medicine so

what is functional medicine whenever I

say functional medicine I want you guys

to think root cause medicine I say

functional medicine in your minds think

root cause medicine another example of

functional medicine is a tree when you

look at a tree what do you see you see

the branches you see the leaves you

don't see the roots underneath the tree

but the truth is in order to have a

healthy tree you have to have healthy

roots and the same goes for the human

body if you want a healthy body we have

to go to the root we have to get to the

root cause and that's what functional

medicine

is I'd like to take you on a journey to

three different doctor's offices at

three different times for three

different patients that have just been

given three different

diagnosis our first patient is Bill Bill

is a 48-year-old white male he's been

getting chest pain off and on he sits in

front of his doctor after this long

workup who looks at him and explains to

him bill you have heart disease and he

puts him on four medication our second

patient is Sally Sally's a 60-year-old

Hispanic female who's been getting tired

who's been gaining weight and after her

workup her provider her doctor explains

to her Sally you have thyroid disease

and our third patient is Martha Martha

is a 31-year-old black female who every

time she goes to bed her legs feel ansy

she this is causing her not sleep well

this is this is affecting her mood and

her doctor explains to her Martha you

have R's leg syndrome now as the three

of them are driving home as the they

just finished their doctor's office they

just finished their appointment they're

Dr Bill is thinking to him our first

patient is thinking to himself he's

thinking I have a problem with my heart

and as Sally is driving home she's

thinking to herself I have a problem

with my thyroid gland and as Martha is

is driving home she is thinking to

herself I have a disease in the nerves

of my legs and all of that is partially

true but what her doctors didn't tell

her and what her providers probably

didn't even know was that their problems

were rooted in the gut show of hands who

here feels fatigue

often who here feels pain

often who who here has either been

diagnosed with a chronic disease or has

a loved one diagnosed with a chronic

disease if you've raised your hand there

is a good chance that the problem is in

the

gut

let's get back to our three patients our

first patient remember Bill our

48-year-old white male that was

diagnosed with heart disease let's see

what happened to his gut well years

before his diagnosis of heart disease

Bill ended up getting some indigestion

so he went to the pharmacy he got an an

acid and he started taking this an acid

which made him a little bit better but

then he got a little bit worse and it

didn't fully go away so what did he do

he went to his doctor and his doctor

prescribed him a prescription acid

blocker a strong acid blocker and it did

the job he started taking it and he felt

no more indigestion no more heart

heartburn and two years later or I'm

sorry two months later he realized that

he still had the the or he was still on

the medication so he's thinking I need

to get off this medicine so he tries to

stop it and he ends up with more pain

than when he first started so he he ends

up going back on the pill and that would

be okay if the pill was completely safe

right it may cost him a little bit but

at the end of the day what is does it

does it really matter if if the pain is

gone the truth is you need acid so you

don't want want to indefinitely block

acid you need acid to kill any bacteria

that are making their way into your

track and viruses you need acid to

activate activate vitamins and to

activate minerals you need acid to help

digest your food there's a reason we

have acid in our stomach and that's not

all if you don't if you block acid the

way he did if you take the acid blocker

and block it what happens there is a

level in the blood called adma that goes

up and when that level up your blood

vessels are less pliable they can't move

as well and that coupled with poor

dietary choices can lead to packing and

clogging of the blood vessels which

leads to the diagnosis of cardiovascular

disease and that's what happened to Bill

so what did we do with Bill well using a

functional medicine plan we were able to

put him on a Stress Management

prescription a sleep prescription and an

exercise

prescription now he was D diagnosed with

cardiovascular disease but using the

functional medicine approach and using

functional medicine tools it became

apparent that his problem wasn't rooted

in the heart his problem was he was

eating foods that were bothering him and

causing indigestion and he was blocking

acid which was causing more problems so

using that and with that information we

were able to put him on an Elimination

Diet and figure out what foods were

actually bothering in the first place we

able to get him off his his heartburn

medication and we were able to and we

were able to put him on a heart healthy

diet and now because he had the

diagnosis he was listening a little bit

more and he was more compliant and he's

now chest painfree let's look at our

second patient Sally let's see what

happened in her gut well Sally ate lots

of processed foods it was a major part

of her diet did you know that over 68%

of American diet consists of processed

foods did you know that well she was one

of those she was she was definitely

following that statistic and she also

ate a lot of wheat products and wheat

wheat products have a protein in in in

in wheat called gluten and what happens

is if you and if you eat lots of

processed foods and if you consume a lot

of gluten you can end up with something

leaky gut now listen I have a reputation

so don't go say Dr ellman say

leaky gut because if you go you can talk

to your family but if you go start

talking to your conventional doctor

they're going to think I'm a quack

they're going to think you're crazy

might as well just put aluminum foil on

your head and just and move on what you

have to say is increased intestinal

pability because that's a scientific

term and that's where the research is at

increased intestinal pability what is

that if you look well quit saying leaky

gut I just said don't say leaky gut so

if you if you look at the intestinal

wall the intestinal wall if you look at

the cells they're very tightly stuck

together like in this picture and the

reason is is we don't want large

particles to leak into the bloodstream

because when they do the body thinks

it's under attack and it tries to attack

those large particles you're supposed to

fully digest your food before it makes

its way into your bloodstream but what

happens for various reasons including

two things that Martha had which was she

was eating processed foods and she was

eating gluten which can increase zonulin

levels which can cause increased

intestinal permability or top secret

leaky gut what happens is it opens up

and now large particles leak into the

bloodstream including gluten and then

gluten is floating around and the body's

like what is this what do I do with this

and then something else happens it's

called molecular

mimicry

and molecular mimickry and I for effect

I clicked it three times for it to go

once because I just wanted to really

focus on this point what is molecular

mimicry molecular mimicry if you I want

you guys to imagine that you have a twin

the twin looks exactly like you it's

identical twin you guys wear the same

hat you guys look so cute cuz you guys

go everywhere all the time looking

exactly the same and then your twin does

what irritating siblings some once in a

while do your twin goes and commits a

crime

so unfortunately this twin isn't really

the brightest to the two of you and the

twin doesn't wear a mask and they have

video footage I it's a big mess they

have video footage of the crime they

have DNA evidence I don't know what if

what your twin was doing pulling hair

out or whatever but they have the

evidence sitting there and the police go

start looking after this look looking

after the perpetrator of the crime right

they find you you look the same you have

the same DNA and guess what they do they

go after you they put you in jail well

guess what the thyroid gland can

sometimes have a twin and it's called

gluten because there's a region on the

thyroid gland that looks very similar to

a region on gluten so what happens is is

you that gluten leaks in your

bloodstream your body makes antibodies

to attack gluten and then it turns

around and it attacks the thyroid gland

so as she eats more as she eats more

gluten more gluten is leaking into the

bloodstream the body's making more

antibodies it's attacking the thyroid

gland even more until it's destroyed to

a point where it can't make enough

thyroid hormone and when it can't make

enough thyroid hormone you end up with a

diagnosis of thyroid disease and that is

what happened to our beloved Sally now

what did we do put her on a personalized

plan which included Stress Management

which included sleep hygiene

prescriptions and which included

exercise prescriptions now remember her

diagnosis she was diagnosed

with

hypothyroidism that's what she thought

this is what I have right but the truth

is and using the principles on

functional medicine we were able to to

realize she had two things leaky gut or

increased intestinal

permeability and she had molecular

mimicry so what be knowing that

information we were able to help with

that leaky gut by giving her an amino

acid called L glutamine stop with those

processed foods stop eating the gluten

and then now the gluten is out of the

bloodstream the body's not making

antibodies anymore and not turning

around and attacking the thyroid gland

and we caught her at an early time so

thankfully she no longer has thyroid

disease she's back at her ideal body

weight and she feels

great our third patient Martha Martha

was our 31-year-old black female that

was diagnosed with restless leg syndrome

what happened with Martha Martha was

bottle-fed I want you guys to realize

not too long ago doctors were saying

it's actually better to bottle feed they

are actually they were recommending

bottle feeding as over breastfeeding but

it turns out you know once you start

going away from

nature things can happen and we find out

the hard way well bottle what happens

when you bottle feed and you're not

getting the protective effect of breast

milk breast milk actually is going to

have antibodies that can kill off bad

bacteria so what happens is is that you

can get an overwhelm of bad bacteria

growing in your gut and guess what you

need good bacteria you need a balance of

bacteria why well because

bacteria regulate your immune system

they help digest your food they are

multiple things that bacteria do as a

matter of fact for every one human cell

we have in our person there are at least

10 bacterial cells we're made up of more

bacteria than people than human right so

she has been she's bottle-fed and she

gets the perfect setup

for sibo so her immune system goes low

and when his her immune system is down

she starts getting infections as a child

so with those infections what does her

mom do take her to the doctor every time

she takes her to the doctor the doctor

gives her an antibiotic every time she

takes an antibiotic it kills off all of

the the bad bacteria but it also kills

good bacteria and eventually that

coupled with poor dietary choices she

ends up with something called sibo or

small intestinal bacterial overgrowth an

overgrowth of all this extra bacteria in

the small intestine a lot of it bad

bacteria and guess what overgrowth of

that bacteria specific strains can

actually create a toxin that leaks into

the bloodstream irritates the nerves and

gives you restless leg syndrome and

that's what happened to Martha so what

did we do for her we we gave her a

Stress Management

prescription we gave her sleep hygiene

prescription we gave her an exercise

prescription and these are all

customized to the person you don't have

somebody that is very logical and and

and Technical I don't sit down and say

close your eyes wooa I'm G to go you you

got

to you got to change it up a bit so I

don't want you to think we're doing the

same thing for everybody but remember

what Her diagnosis was she was diagnosed

with wrestling leg syndrome but because

of functional medicine because we were

able to use the tools of functional

medicine we knew that her real

problem the root cause was small

intestinal bacterial overgrowth so we

put her on a spe specific diet called a

lowfodmap diet we put her on herbs to

kill off some of that bad bacteria we

put her on a good probiotic she is now

restless leg syndrome free and she's now

off all of her

medicines I have just given you three

examples of how three

seemingly completely different diagnoses

all rooted in the gut if you look at

their stories the food they ate played a

huge role in how they got ill and the

food they ate played a huge role in the

healing process we started this journey

with a question is the gut the gateway

to disease and the answer is yes

fortunately it's also the gateway to

healing and to health ladies and

gentlemen God bless your

guts thank you very

[Applause]

much