Hepatic Encephalopathy Encephalopathy is a term that refers to brain dysfunction, for which there are many causes. Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) occurs when the liver stops working properly or when blood from the gut bypasses the liver in what is known as portosystemic shunting. HE can manifest as a spectrum of neurological and psychiatric abnormalities. The [...]
Enemas Enemas have been popular for a long, long time. It makes sense that enemas were used historically; when individuals couldn’t take medicine by mouth, and before intravenous medication was common, there was only one route of administration left available! As humans paid more attention to cleaning themselves, it seemed logical to think that the [...]
How Cystic Fibrosis and Fabry Disease Affect the Gut Cystic Fibrosis When you think of cystic fibrosis (CF) and the parts of the body it affects, the lungs and respiratory system will likely come to mind. However, it also affects other parts of the body. CF is a rare, life-shortening genetic disease caused by mutations [...]
Free Recipe Book – IBD Kitchen When you have inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, it can be difficult to come up with meals that taste good and fit your nutrition goals. Created by a chef and three registered dietitians, The IBD Kitchen cookbooks provide recipes with carefully selected ingredients that [...]
C. difficile Patient Journey Download the PDF report. C. difficile infection (CDI) occurs when Clostridioides difficile bacteria grow out of control in the digestive tract. The bacteria and their spores are resistant to many common cleaning methods so they can transfer easily between surfaces if people do not wash their hands adequately [...]
Oral Nutritional Supplements Oral nutritional supplements can be a powerful tool in the struggle against malnutrition. They provide an easy and concentrated energy source with plenty of much-needed nutrition during the best of times, and the worst of times, when it can be very difficult to consume enough nutrition to maintain a healthy immune system [...]
Western Herbal Medicines and IBS For decades, we’ve written about complementary and alternative therapies, such as herbal products and Traditional Chinese Medicine, for management of digestive ailments. There are still questions surrounding their safety and efficacy, but a recent meta-analysis on Western herbal medicines,1 found that peppermint essential oil, aloe vera, and asafoetida – a [...]
IBD Patient Journey Read the PDF Report Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease that primarily involves the digestive tract. There are two main subtypes – Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – which differ in the area and extent of inflammation. In Crohn’s disease, inflammation can occur in any [...]
Video: What can I eat if I have IBS? Video Transcript For a lot of people who receive a diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, the first thing they want to know is “What can I eat?” From simple changes to specialized diet plans, everyone has an opinion. Maybe you [...]
Journal Article: The IBS Patient Experience Gail Attara, President & Chief Executive officer Gastrointestinal Society Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common functional condition that affects around 13-20% of Canadians, but a lot of people with IBS don’t seek help, despite often debilitating symptoms. These include abdominal pain, bloating, and constipation and/or diarrhea. There [...]
Product Review Discover Your Microbiome with Injoy Your gut microbiome holds crucial insights about your health, which you can have fun exploring with Injoy,1 a Canadian-made microbiome testing kit. Our gut microbiomes consist of approximately 100 trillion microorganisms, from 500-1,000 different species, consisting of bacteria, viruses, yeast, and parasites. Harmony and balance among these species [...]
IBS Updates 2022 April is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Awareness Month. IBS is one of the most common gastrointestinal conditions in the world. It affects as many as 20% of Canadians so it’s likely that you know at least one person with this functional disorder. IBS can be debilitating, and it presents with symptoms of [...]
Gut↔Brain Axis Does the Microbiota Affect Brain Health? Have you ever experienced that moment where your gut feels uneasy before a final exam, a date, or an important job interview? This physiological response is not entirely random and suggests that the brain and gut are connected. There is constant bidirectional communication between the gut and [...]
Nutrition and Lifestyle Tips to Help Reduce Bloating and Gas 1. Eat mindfully in a calm and relaxed environment Eating when stressed can hamper digestion and trigger gut symptoms. Consider taking a break from digital devices and practice paying attention to what you’re eating and thoroughly enjoy each bite of food. 2. Chew your food [...]
Lawsuit Settled: Dannon1 Yogurt Didn’t Measure Up to Its Claims The $35 million US Activia® settlement is the largest-ever for a lawsuit alleging false advertising of a food product. In September 2009, Dannon settled a massive consumer class action suit in the US challenging that ads for certain brands of its yogurt overstate their claimed [...]
Worms and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Have we become too clean? The prevalence of helminths – harmless minute parasitic worms – in our population has been drastically decreasing since the middle of the 20th century. Historically, humans co-existed with these creatures in what researchers are now coming to believe to be an essential immune regulatory relationship. [...]
Can Gut Bacteria Protect Against Nut and Other Allergies? Researchers are learning that the rich colonies of bacteria present in the digestive tract influence the body’s systems far more than previously thought. A review of more than a hundred studies reveals the role gut bacteria plays in our susceptibility to food allergies.1 Researchers have observed [...]
Is Your Gut Microbiota Balanced or Not? The gut microbiota is a vast and diverse reservoir of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, which live in relative balance in healthy individuals. Scientists have identified at least 1,000 different species of bacteria living within our digestive tract, primarily the colon. However, studying how these species individually [...]
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