Sorry pizza pie…you’ve earned the right to be picked on as one of the worst food offenders on the menu­—a calamitous combo of gluten, dairy, and nightshades layered into one warm, ooey-gooey, cheese-heaven triangle. However, to all of my Italian friends, we’re... [More]

In February 2012, the FDA warned that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) such as Nexium, Prevacid, and Prilosec may increase the risk of Clostridium difficile associated diarrhea. In ecological terms, then, we could view PPIs as an environmental insult on the microecology of... [More]

In the event our gastrointestinal (GI) systems were able to speak, wouldn’t it be interesting to know what’s on your gut’s mind? Lying there, coiled within your belly…is it in a state of bliss or on stress overload? Is it enjoying the plethora of foods you inundate it with, day in and day... [More]

New methods for testing microbes in stool are proving to be more clinically useful than older culture methods alone. Acceptance of such improvements is historically slow and misconceptions and rumor abound. Three points (time-of-collection snapshot, anaerobe profiling, and ... [More]

As 2011 draws to a close, December provides the perfect opportunity to reflect on yet another year gone by. Did you take the time to rest in January? Perhaps you implemented a new exercise regimen in February?... [More]

The recent Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report revealed that the prescribing rate of antibiotics for a person 14 years and younger has declined by approximately 24%, which is down from... [More]

Let’s face it, people do not imagine anything attractive when they think of parasites. A wiggly protozoan or worm inside our own GI tract? The knee-jerk reaction is “Gross! Kill it…NOW!” There is good reasoning behind this opinion. Parasites, by definition, live at the expense of their host and can wreak havoc to many body systems... [More]