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“If You’re Ignoring These Two ‘R’'s’, You May Be Risking Your Gut Health”
The incidence of gastrointestinal complaints and allergy-linked gut permeability is on the rise in developed nations. Experts believe it’s largely due to the highly processed American diet, our modern lifestyles, and reduced physical activity. While the pharmaceutical industry churns out one fix after another, we may be standing on one that makes far more sense, used since the days of Hippocrates.
The idea of eating dirt isn’t new. It’s been around a long time, dating back more than 2,500 years ago.
Hunters and gatherers couldn’t avoid it, and regardless of culture, there’s evidence people have included traces of dirt in their diets throughout the ages.
Did they know something that we’ve forgotten?
Think about when you were growing up. I imagine many of you, much like myself, grew up in families where having a vegetable or flower garden was commonplace. You likely helped out by pulling weeds and planting seeds – with your bare hands.
Even if you didn’t have a family garden, as a kid, you probably played outdoors for hours each day and got more than a little dirty.
woman gardening
Most people avoid touching dirt today
Back then, people didn’t worry so much about dirt – it was part of life. You got dirty and then you cleaned up.
It wasn’t until years later that Americans became obsessed with cleanliness. We stopped touching dirt – and we made sure we didn’t eat it.
Today, it’s no longer “normal” to get your hands dirty. Designer garden tools and thick, plush gloves just about guarantee that you won’t soil your hands.
And it’s not just adults... These days kids spend far more time in front of computers than they do digging in the ground.
If you do happen to get dirty – or end up with dirt-covered food, there’s no shortage of fancy vegetable scrubbers, antibacterial soaps and sanitizing hand gels to remove grime and bacteria.
While all this may sound like a good thing for your health, this obsession with sanitation and cleanliness has forced us to take a step backwards with our gut health.
An Inside Look at Modern-Day Hunters and Gatherers Reveals Surprising Truths About Microbiome Health
amazon rainforest
Home in the Amazon Rainforest – and away from all cultural influences
Your microbiome is your unique collection of intestinal bacteria – the trillions of gut bacteria that influence your immune health, mood, behavior, digestion, metabolism and weight.
Since there’s little doubt that modern-day living affects your gut health, how would your microbiome be different if you lived completely isolated from modern medicine, food and culture?
To answer that question, a group of researchers and a Venezuelan government medical team set out by helicopter to a remote Yanomami tribe living on the border between Venezuela and Brazil.
Members of this tribe have lived as hunter-gatherers for more than 11,000 years in this region of the Amazon rain forest. This outside visit marked their first contact ever with modern society.
After taking samples from 12 of the villagers' fecal matter, the research team used DNA analysis to determine which species of bacteria thrived in the hunter-gatherers' guts.
Their first surprise was the astonishing number of different species present in the Yanomami's microbiome. The tribe had about 50 percent more ecological diversity in their gut than the average American. Obviously, there are multiple factors at play in this remote region...
The population’s high-fiber indigenous diet differed greatly from the standard American diet
They had never been exposed to antibiotics
They had far lower exposure to electrical fields and EMF
The sanitation and hygiene practices so prevalent in the Western world were absent here
While sanitation and hygiene were indeed important variables, I believe other factors played a role as well, especially diet.
There are many little known factors that affect your microbiome on a daily basis that can alter its pH, impact your absorption of nutrients as well as inflammatory response, immune function, digestion, and your gut’s ability to fight invaders.
How Many of These Nine Factors Are Working Right Now to Wreck Your Gut Health?
The health of your microbiome depends on having the proper balance between beneficial bacteria and potentially pathogenic bacteria, as well as the health and integrity of your gut lining.
When your microbiome falls out of balance or loses its diversity, or your gut lining becomes compromised, it can impact many processes in your body and your risk of chronic disease.
Here are nine of the biggest factors:
processed sugary foods
Processed and sugary foods and pasteurized milk can harm your good gut bacteria
Antibiotics
Most antibiotics can alter your gut microbial balance. Whether you’re taking antibiotics right now, just finished a course last week or took them years ago, the well-being of your microbiome may be compromised.
Included are the antibiotics hidden in food, especially factory-farmed meats and conventional dairy products.
Heartburn pills
A British study on twins suggests that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) taken for heartburn can alter your gut flora. An additional 2015 study confirms differences observed in PPI users versus non-users are associated with changes towards a less healthy gut microbiome.
Fluoridated and chlorinated water
The chlorine in chlorinated tap water can potentially destroy both the bad bacteria and the good, friendly bacteria in your gut. The same is true for fluoride.
Processed and refined sugars
The chlorine in chlorinated tap water can potentially destroy both the bad bacteria and the good, friendly bacteria in One of the fastest ways to create an imbalance – and feed the bad guys – is to eat too much sugar and non-fiber carbohydrates. Few things fertilize and speed up the growth of pathogenic microbes faster than sugars!
Processed, refined foods
Processed foods, including pasteurized milk, can harm your good bacteria. Eating the typical Western diet of processed foods produces a profoundly different microbiome than one high in vegetables and fiber.
Bioengineered foods, pesticides and other agricultural chemicals
Certain genetically engineered foods and even some non-GMO foods that are not organic, like wheat, can contain glyphosate, an agricultural herbicide that’s been shown to target and destroy good gut bacteria. Conventionally raised animals are typically fed bioengineered grains, such as GE corn.
NSAIDs (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
Certain popular over-the-counter painkillers can damage cell membranes and your gut lining, and harm healthy gut flora.
Stress
Stress affects your gut in a number of ways including hindering the production of enzymes and absorption of nutrients, and reducing oxygen levels and blood flow. Plus, it can impact the functioning of your entire GI tract, including your gut flora.
Pollution
Airborne particulate matter from car exhaust, home furnaces, and industry, as well as livestock emissions travel from your lungs to your intestines, and can alter your gut bacteria and your intestinal barrier. It can contaminate the food and water supply, leading to further injury of your gut bacteria.
Now that you know what can destroy or upset the balance of your microbiome and the integrity of your gut lining, let’s look at what you can do to help restore your gut health to support your health and well-being.
The Two “R’s” – and Why Your Microbiome Needs Them
A healthy microbiome contains two different types of bacteria:
healthy family
You get essential bacteria from your parents, but there's another important source: your environment
Bacteria from Mom (and Dad to a lesser degree) during the birthing process, breast-feeding and close interactions with friend and family shortly after birth. These include the commonly used probiotic species lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.
These organisms are essential for your body’s functioning and control its many biochemical reactions. The typical western lifestyle causes significant harm to these bacteria, which can lead to dysbiosis, or an imbalance of microbes.
Transient organisms from the natural environment. These microbes are key “reconditioning” probiotics. They are introduced into your microbiome through environmental exposure in the form of spore organisms.
These important bacteria perform critical housekeeping functions in your gut. They’re sometimes referred to as the “gut police” because they take care of the condition of your gut and support the growth of good bacteria.
Think of these two categories of bacteria as “reconditioning” and “reseeding.” Environmental bacterial spores condition your gut and ready it for reseeding by beneficial bacteria from fermented vegetables or probiotic supplements.
We’ve talked about how everyday living conditions and lifestyle can easily disrupt your delicate microbial balance and gut lining integrity.
And we’ve explored how by avoiding dirt and focusing too much on sanitation, we sidestep and destroy the environmental organisms so crucial to your gut health.
Why Regular Probiotics May Not Be Enough to Support Your Gut Health
Mother nature produces bacterial spores as a means to survive extreme environmental conditions and to exist long-term in conditions that might normally kill the bacteria.
The complex spore-forming process takes about eight hours. It involves the buildup of layers surrounding the bacteria core, ending with outer protein-like layers known as the spore coat.
Different from regular probiotics, spore-forming bacteria offer four major advantages over non-spore-forming probiotics such as Lactobacillus in your gut:
spores in stomach
Spores can survive the low pH of your stomach to reach your small intestine intact
Spores can survive the low pH of the gastric barrier to deliver the entire dosage to your small intestine (not the case for all Lactobacillus species)
Spores resist breakdown from enzymes, solvents, and hydrogen peroxide as they travel to your small intestine
Spores are heat-stable, so the product can be stored at room temperature without losing any potency or effectiveness
Certain spores are antibiotic-resistant, which means you can take them while using antibiotics to help support your healthy microbiome
When the spores reach your small intestines and are exposed to the right nutrients, they germinate. This process, which takes just a few minutes, allows water to enter the spore and break down and remove the spore coats. Freed of its protective layers, the beneficial probiotics can resume cell growth inside your body.
Here’s what I’d like you to keep in mind about spores and regular probiotics: They’re not interchangeable as they perform different functions in your gut.
To truly optimize the health of your microbiome, you need both!
Bacillus – Nature’s Original Spore Probiotic That Benefitted Even Dinosaurs?
bacillus
Bacillus has been around for millions of years
Because our ancestors were hunters and gatherers and ate off the land, much of their diet was teeming with environmental bacteria.
These strains of bacteria were able to survive in the outside environment, and they were able to pass through the acidic gastric system and end up thriving in the intestines.
After thousands of years of exposure, humans have actually come to require these specialized strains for proper, healthy function of many of our biological systems!
The most well-known, well-studied and widely used spore probiotics are from the bacillus species – in particular bacillus subtilis, bacillus clausii and bacillus coagulans.
You won’t find these spore probiotics in foods, as our modern sterilized food systems have eliminated these critical species from our diets.
So where can you find them?
Originally thought of as “soil organisms,” studies show they are actually digestive tract organisms that use the soil to transfer themselves from host to host.
Bacillus species are very abundant in the environment and data suggests they spanned the globe thousands of years ago.
While bacteria are known to mutate very quickly, the bacillus subtilis species has remained the same for tens of thousands of years – proof of how resistant bacillus is as an environmental probiotic!
Bacillus species, including bacillus subtilis, bacillus clausii and bacillus coagulans have been shown in research to:
Train the immune system to support a healthy normal inflammatory and immune response*
Support digestion and assimilation of food and nutrients*
Support detoxification processes of your GI tract*
Support your GI defenses against invading species and bacterial overgrowth, including your small intestine*
Produce key nutrients at the site of absorption to maximize bioavailability*
Bacillus spore probiotics produce vitamins, enzymes, carotenoid antioxidants, and some very valuable fats...
Short-Chain Fatty Acids – The MOST Important Nutrient for a Healthy Gut?
woman with healthy gut
Do you have enough of these gut-loving fatty acids for your healthy microbiome?
Some researchers believe short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) may be the most important nutrient for a healthy gut and microbiome.
SCFAs are fatty acids produced by your gut microbiota as fermentation products from unabsorbed food in your small intestine.
What sets them apart from other fatty acids is their unique structure: Fewer than six carbons in straight and branched-chain configurations.
The most abundant SCFAs are acetic acid (C2), propionic acid (C3), and butyric acid (C4). They comprise as much as 95 percent of the SCFAs in your colon.
SCFAs play important roles in the health of your microbiome and gut:
Support healthy blood flow and fluid and electrolyte uptake*
Promotes healthy intestinal permeability, helps heal your gut and keeps your gut wall sealed*
Promotes the production of immune cells*
Increases fat metabolism*
Supports the growth of beneficial organisms (lactobacillus and bifidobacter)*
Helps promote a healthy normal gut and systemic inflammatory response*
In recent years, propionic and butyric acids have received the most attention for a very good reason: Low levels of these are connected with inflammatory processes in your body.
The highest concentration of butyrate in your body is in your gut. This short-chain fatty acid is an important energy source for your intestinal cells.
If levels of butyrate run low – or are diminished – intestinal cells die. Butyrate also plays key roles in supporting digestive health and a normal inflammatory response in your gut.
Diet does not provide a reliable, absorbable source of SCFAs, so you must depend on key gut bacteria to produce SCFAs (especially butyrate) for your microbiome.
Introducing Complete Spore Restore – My Unique, Research-Proven Spore Biotic Formula
My Complete Spore Restore provides four outstanding soil-based spore probiotics:
Bacillus clausii
Most widely used probiotic in the world
Research-proven to be a potent immune stimulator*
Antibiotic resistant for use during antibiotic treatment, so spores remain stable in the presence of antibiotics
Pediococcus acidilactici
Research shows it promotes a healthy inflammatory response in the intestines as well as supporting a healthy immune response*
Can exist in anaerobic conditions like your gut
May improve gluten sensitivity*
Helps balance your intestinal microflora and promote optimal health*
Produces several different antimicrobial compounds to support a healthy bacterial balance in the gut*
Bacillus subtilis
This specific subtilis promotes a positive environment for the growth of beneficial bacteria*
Produces nattokinase (the key compound in Japanese natto) and vitamin K2
Highly important for immune development as it germinates in the small intestine*
Widely used and considered safe (GRAS – Generally Regarded As Safe)
Increases SCFA production in the gut by over 40 percent to support reconditioning of your gut and microbiome*
Bacillus coagulans
Secretes a bacteriocin, Coagulin, which has activity against a broad spectrum of microbes*
Produces L+ optical form of lactic acid that has a greater effect on immune stimulation and gut defense*
Potent immune stimulator*
Supports digestive and urinary tract health, as well as nutrient absorption*
Intensively studied with long history of use for gut concerns and normal inflammatory response*
My Complete Spore Restore is designed to work together with Complete Probiotics. Here’s how they work with one another in effortless harmony...
Complete Spore Restore Acts Like a Conscientious Gardener in a Lush, Dense Garden… And Complete Probiotics Provides the Seeds
Imagine for a moment a lush, bountiful garden, filled with thousands of different plants. All the plants work together to keep the garden vibrantly healthy.
Over time, this garden, like many real-life gardens, experiences assaults that challenge its well-being: Weeds, dousings with herbicides and other harsh chemicals, and a lack of proper soil nutrients.
I paint this picture for one reason – to show you how my Complete Probiotics and Complete Spore Restore work together in your gut:
green leafy garden
Complete Spore Restore acts like a conscientious gardener who pulls weeds and nourishes the soil
Complete Spore Restore acts as the gardener. Like any good gardener, it would pull weeds from the garden, detoxify the soil, and replenish the soil’s energy and nutrient content. This is like how it functions in your gut!*
Complete Probiotics provides the new seeds to replace the good plants in your garden (or, in the case of your gut, reseeds new beneficial bacteria). New bacteria can only be as healthy as its foundation and growth medium.
A good gardener leaves the garden when its work is completed, and that is exactly what Complete Spore Restore does in your gut.
Providing key “reconditioning” strains of spore biotics designed by nature to be transient, it helps protect and recondition your gut flora during its time there.*
Because it leaves your gut when its work is finished, you need new reconditioning strains every day to provide daily, ongoing care.
That’s why it’s ideal to take Complete Spore Restore along with Complete Probiotics every day!
That’s Not All… We’ve Added a Unique Organic Mushroom Blend for Natural Prebiotics
Researchers have discovered that probiotics work more effectively when you include prebiotics.
Prebiotics, or non-digestible food ingredients, stimulate the growth and activity of the beneficial bacteria in your gut, and help improve the health of your microbiome.*
Mushrooms are one of my favorite forms of prebiotics because they offer so many potential benefits.
Certain mushrooms contain high levels of a prebiotic substance called Beta-glucans, a non-digestible oligosaccharide that feeds your good bacteria and promotes valuable health benefits.*
turkey tail mushroom
The Trametes versicolor or Turkey Tail mushroom
As part of my Complete Spore Restore, my special Organic Mushroom Blend contains three highly valued mushroom mycelium:
Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) – Helps regenerate your intestinal epithelium or lining, preventing its breakdown and loss of integrity*
Shiitake (Lentinus edodes) – Has a beneficial, modulating effect on immune function and protective qualities for your GI tract*
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) – Contains two polysaccharide complexes that are gaining a great deal of scientific attention for their ability to enhance immune status*
The mycelium part of the mushroom is the part you don’t see, below the ground. I’ve chosen to use the mycelium in this product because it more closely mimics the underground environment in which the spores thrive.
Mushrooms are also a rare source of ergothioneine, an unusual sulfur-containing derivative of the amino acid histidine. This “master antioxidant” may play a very important role in protecting your cellular DNA from oxidative damage.*
Is Complete Spore Restore for You?
Because your gut needs both kinds of probiotics – spore probiotics and reseeding probiotics, I believe many people will benefit from taking both Complete Spore Restore and Complete Probiotics especially if you have a compromised gut or if any of these situations apply to you:
You’ve taken antibiotics any time during the last two years
You’ve had surgery or a hospital stay within the last two years
You’ve travelled to another country in recent months (your microbiome can change in as little as 24 hours!)
As long as you have a good source of probiotics in your diet, such as high-quality fermented vegetables, Complete Spore Restore can be a suitable “stand alone” product.
Keep in mind, Complete Spore Restore is a gut reconditioner, not a full-spectrum probiotic. That’s why I recommend taking it along with Complete Probiotics.
Pairing Complete Spore Restore with some of my other products may provide even more benefits:
Psyllium to reduce gas by as much as 50 percent*
Protein Powder (any of my products will work) to reduce ammonia*
Digestive Enzymes to enhance absorption of nutrients*
And remember, because no refrigeration is required, you can take them with you wherever you go!
Get the Whole Package – Order Complete Spore Restore Today… Or Even Better, Try My Gut Restore Pack!
Nearly everyone has heard about probiotics.
Few people know about spore probiotics or spore biotics – at least not yet. While they may be as ancient as the Hunters and Gatherers themselves, the power of spores is just becoming known...
My Complete Spore Restore is a potent spore biotic formula that can potentially help you:
Improve the condition of your microbiome and gut integrity*
Promote tight junctions in your gut epithelial lining*
Support a normal inflammatory response in your gut and body*
Enhance digestion and absorption of nutrients*
Lower the pH in your gut to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria*
Support your body’s immune function*
Reduce unwanted biofilm effects to help fight pathogenic bacteria*
Support your GI tract’s detoxification processes*
Boost the production of short-chain fatty acids by as much as 40 percent*
Enhance the benefits of Complete Probiotics*
I think you’ll agree – that’s an impressive list of potential benefits. All from the addition of soil-based bacteria to your diet!
Why not give my Complete Spore Restore a try today and see what it can do for you?
Place your order right now – try my Complete Spore Restore by itself, or get the whole package by ordering my Gut Restore Pack, with both Complete Spore Restore and Complete Probiotics.
Either way, you’re covered with my Money Back Guarantee, so you can’t lose! (Please see complete details below).
Label Snapshot for Complete Spore Restore
Supplement Facts
Serving Size: 1 Capsules
Servings Per Container: 30 Amt. Per Serving % Daily Value
Dr. Mercola’s Special Blend 140mg *
Bacillus clausii
Pediococcus acidilactici
Bacillus subtilis
Bacillus coagulans
Dr. Mercola’s Organic Mushroom Blend 200mg *
Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus) (Mycelium)^
Shiitake (Lentinus edodes) (Mycelium)^
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) (Mycelium)^
*Daily Value (DV) not established.
OTHER INGREDIENTS: Organic Whole Grain Brown Rice, Capsule (Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose).
SUGGESTED USE: Adults, as a dietary supplement, take one (1) capsule daily with a meal.
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Top 3 Frequently Asked Questions
1. Q: I’ve seen other SBOs (Soil-Based Organisms) formulas that contain more strains and higher CFUs. How do these products compare to Complete Spore Restore?
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3. Q: Do I have to take Complete Spore Restore with Complete Probiotics?
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*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional. If you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition, consult your health care professional before using products based on this content.
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