THE BIOME BUZZ
BUGS AND WORMS AND OTHER GREAT STUFF
Category: autism
More On Propionic Acid and Autism (or…I’m sorry, but I Can’t Help Myself…)
I know that everyone (including me) wants answers to the question “how do you fix a broken biome.” I am always happy when I come across any information that may actually help people, especially since, at this point, there’s precious little known about how…
New Research into the Negative Side of Short-Chain Fatty Acids: Too Much of a Good Thing
I have spent a fair bit of virtual ink over the years talking about both the positives and the negatives of short chain fatty acids (SCFAs), mentioning that indeed, you really can have too much of a good thing. For example, as healthy as…
2019: A Top Post Roundup
As promised, I am writing my annual review of top stories from the previous year but this time, I’m not picking my favorites, I’m picking yours. I thought it would be fun to see which of my posts got the top views for the…
FMT and Autism: A Status Report
Over the weekend I read an interesting little article on the status of fecal microbiota transplant as a therapy for treating autism.[i] It most certainly is one of the more promising treatments: the two clinical trials so far have had pretty spectacular results. That’s…
The Microbiome and the Basal Ganglia in …The Case of the Leaky Gut?
I recently read an article looking at the effects of bacterial microbiome alterations on particular circuits in the brain (the thalamo-cortico-basal ganglia) that are associated with compulsive behavior, addiction, altered sensations and motor output.[i] What struck me is how closely related seemingly unrelated disorders…
Glyphosate and Human Health: Is the Bacterial Microbiome the Connection?
In various posts, I’ve explored different potential mechanisms that may play a part in the epidemic of biome alterations we have experienced in the industrialized world, including diet, formula feeding, chronic stress, and so forth. Another potential mechanism, environmental toxins, is another area of…
The Promise of Fecal Microbiota Transplant
Over the weekend, I read a great little article about the potential applications of fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) in treating a huge variety of diseases.[i] Of course, we are sorely lacking in clinical trials for almost all but still, there is hope to be…
Prebiotics: Yet Another Layer of Biome Complexity
I regularly receive FB messages and emails from people asking me what probiotic or prebiotic they should be taking. If I knew the answer, I’d be rich. The answer is…no one knows. We are so at the tip of the iceberg on all this,…
Propionic Acid: A Culprit in Obesity and Metabolic Dysfunction?
As promised on Tuesday, today is the last post in my continuing propionic acid series as we wrap up not-celebrating the Biome Buzz’ official First Annual Propionic Acid week. Today’s post is about just how suspect it is for all our health. A study…
Ameliorating the Adverse Effects of Excess Propionic Acid
I am officially declaring this Biome Buzz’ first annual Propionic Acid Week! (Unfortunately, this is not a cause for celebration.) If you remember, propionic acid (PPA) is a short-chain fatty acid produced by gut bacteria. Ordinarily, PPA , like the other SCFAs, is great…
