Our second brain!

So i am currently like a kid in a candy store!! My candy is learning! Yes, I feel geeky saying that but I don’t even care! This week I am listening to a telesummit “Succeed with ADHD” and I am so happy with all the information that I am getting.  (you can follow the link and register while there is still time!)

If you follow along with my blog, you know all about my stomach issues that I have been having and my total frustration with trying to understand what the heck is going on! This is why one of the audios in particular caught my attention:

Understanding the Relationship Between ADHD and the Gut Microbiome — Dr. James Greenblatt 

Have you heard of our second brain; our gut?! Did you know that there are active neurotransmitters like serotonin in our gut? In fact, 90% of our serotonin is in our gut!! There was also a study done showing that by giving lab rats probiotics the amount of dopamine in the brain was raised (umm..yes please!).

Sooo why am I so happy about this? Well, it’s all because of this new word that i learnt:

Dysbiosis!

Dysbiosis is when there is abnormal bacteria in the gut. Usually from multiple rounds of antibiotics. The antibiotics destroy some of the good bacteria in the gut. Antibiotics also create growth of “bad” bacteria (example: yeast overgrowth). This can also lead to nutritional deficiency and impacts behaviour.

Laurie makes an analogy with bread: think about the reaction that the bread has to the yeast –> It rises (enter bloating)!!

Dr. Greenblatt even mentioned that in some severe cases they are even producing alcohol which results in a giddy and hyperactive person!

• How do you know if you have dysbiosis?
  • Multiple use of antibiotics.
  • Poor response to stimulant medications
    • Aggressive
    • Hyperactive
  • Abnormal growth of a clostridia strain
• Tests
  • Urine test: organic acid test (picks up yeast and bacteria)
    • Great Plains Laboratory does these tests
• Treatment: high dose probiotic
  • The science isn’t really there to say which strain to use. A high dose probiotic is recommended for 1-2 months.
  • Interestingly, he has never seen any side effects from using probiotics!
    • Brand: culturelle

Some other things that can effect our ADHD:

• High levels of copper

  This could be due to the water supply (toxic levels of copper in the water).

• Celiac 

Seen in college age ADHD kids. Malnourishment is the usual symptom that comes forward (example: anemic). Celiac disease is often missed because there are no GI symptoms; there are often cases where there is no GI symptoms.

• Food allergies and food sensitivities

These can be a problem for some people and causes inflammation in the gut.
–>Test for IGG

• Dietary intake

Sugar (artificial and refined). These effect the dysbiosis.

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What do you think of all this?! Do you have anything interesting to add?

I’ll leave you with this fun fact: we have 5 lbs of bacteria in our gut!!

Please note: All of this information is paraphrased from the audio conversation in the telesummit “Succeed with ADHD”, guest speaker Dr. James Greenblatt