Cass Nelson-Dooley, MS

Comparing the Oral and Colon Microbiomes-Abstract

Commentary From Cass Nelson-Dooley (Podcast on Oral Microbiome): This a great study about the Human Microbiome Project comparing microbes through ALL points of the GI tract. It revealed some interesting things about normal, healthy subjects. For instance, they have oral bacterial pathogens, but no disease! This finding disputes the one bug-one disease paradigm (Koch’s Postulates). …

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth & Gluten Sensitivity Often Found in Interstitial Cystitis Patients

Commentary from Jessica Drummond (podcast on Chronic Pelvic Pain):  When working with interstitial cystitis (IC) clients, this study shifted my thinking from simply applying “the IC diet” as a strategy for reducing IC symptoms to looking for the root cause of the IC as a potential manifestation of another more systemic issue such as SIBO,…

Are You a Hospitable Host to Your Microbial Partners?

Are you enriching their lives with good, healthy food choices and lifestyle habits or are you angering your trillions of guests, pushing them towards causing disease? I wrote my thesis in medical school on stealth infections, where I concluded that health had much to do with how well we tended our microbial garden… I was…

3 Essential Nutrients Gut Bugs Create for Us

Those gut microbes are one busy “organ!” Aside from honing our immune system, balancing our metabolism, protecting our gut lining, neutralizing pathogens, and helping our brain function, did you know that these little critters are also making nutrients for us to use… One such nutrient is folate, which is a critical nutrient for methylation pathways…

Don’t Throw the Beans Out With the Bathwater!

Many folks are “dissing” beans these days, be them lentil, refried, kidney, soy or black. We’re so concerned about the capacity of some of the bean compounds (called anti-nutrients), such as lectins, saponins, protease inhibitors and phytates to induce damage that we forget about the copious bean benefits, including the cheap cost, protein, fiber and…