Chinese Medicine for Your Gut Microbiome

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You know we need a healthy gut microbiome in order to digest and absorb nutrients from our food – without pain, gas, bloating, diarrhea or constipation.
You may also know about the growing body of research suggesting that what happens in the gut doesn’t stay in the gut.

It impacts every system of the body, from the brain (Alzheimer’s, anxiety, depression) to your bones (osteoporosis), hormone imbalance (HPA-axis, thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, insulin) immune function, energy and mitochondria, chronic inflammation and pain, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders . . .

Maybe you’re taking probiotics or even prebiotics to support your gut, which may be a fine thing to do.

But the problem with taking probiotics or prebiotics is that you have to keep taking them. You can keep bringing cacti to a swamp, but they’re never going to thrive and multiply there, because they’re not suited to that ecosystem.

It’s not the right climate for them.

Your microbes manipulate you into creating the environment that works for them — not necessarily for YOU. Some like it hot, some like it cold. Some like a high pressure environment (hello, bloating), others low.

They’ll give you cravings to make you do their bidding.

With Chinese herbal medicine, we alter your internal climate to create an environment that healthy gut microbes love and can multiply in. Of course, eating the right stuff is key too.

Chinese herbs can also encourage the body to release its own digestive enzymes and bile instead of having to take these things.(Cool, right?)

Within Chinese medicine, elegant synergistic combinations of herbs have been for hundreds and/or thousands of years to promote the gut microbiota we need for boosting energy, burning fat, decreasing inflammation, and supporting the gut-brain axis.

If you’re a patient of mine you might be familiar with Microgard or Microgard Plus –two of my go-to formulas I use in my clinic for treating digestive issues. One of the founders of the company that produces these top-notch formulas, Dr. Andrew Miles, was my guest for this conversation.

His new endeavor, Chorus, aims at bringing a similar formulas to the general public, along with information about healthy digestion from a Chinese Medicine perspective so people can, in his words, “eat, but not hurt.”

In his episode, you’ll learn:

  • What besides food affects the gut microbiome
  • How the gut interconnects with other body systems
  • Chinese herbs that help with gas, bloating, and fat loss
  • A simple practice you can employ to help you digest and absorb better right away

You’ll especially want to tune in if you deal with

  • gas, bloating, fullness, discomfort or pain after eating
  • irregular bowel movements
  • symptoms of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth)
  • nausea, loss of appetite, bad breath
  • sugar cravings, excess belly fat, tiredness 
  • chronic post-nasal drip, snoring, brain fog
  • a thick or greasy coat on your tongue* (read on for how to assess this)

If this sounds like you, you may well benefit from Chorus, younger cousin of Microgard, made from imperial grade herbs. Of course, this isn’t health care advice: you should check with your  Chinese medicine practitioner to make sure you fit the diagnostic pattern. (Or visit the Chorus FAQs for the 9 signs you don’t need it.)

Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

When’s the last time you looked at your tongue? Go ahead, I’ll wait.

As Chinese Medical practitioners, we’re curious about the tongue’s color, moisture, shape, and coating because the tongue reflects our internal ecosystem. Examining it is one of the ways we diagnose (along with pulse, symptoms, observation, palpation).

Looking at your tongue every day (and using a tongue scraper to assess the coat) can help you figure out what’s working in your diet/ lifestyle.

3 Tongue Signs that you’re harboring the wrong kind of gut bugs:

  1. The coating looks thick or greasy: you should be able to see the color of the tongue itself underneath the surface coating. A coat that’s so thick you can’t see through to the tongue body underneath, or that looks slimy, is a very telling sign.
  2. The tongue’s edge looks like a scallop shell. This is  due to retention of excess fluid in tongue; the indentations are from the pressure of your teeth against the tongue’s edges.
  3. The tongue looks thick or puffy: a sign of fluids not being transformed. Sometimes this looks like there’s a crack in the middle, but really it’s swelling on the surface.

Any of the above are signs of dampness (excess residual crud that gets in the way of the body’s proper functionality) and indicate that you’d likely benefit from Chorus. Or if you live locally, come get some Microgard at my clinic.

Of course, this you should check with your health care provider, ideally a Chinese Medicine practitioner, to make sure it’s right for you.

For a more on tongue diagnosis, check out episode 63 of A Healthy Curiosity podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

A map of where internal organ systms are represented on the tongue according to TCM

Links:

To get your hands on Chinese herbal medicine for your gut microbiome, visit https://chorusforlife.myshopify.com/Brodie  You’ll be supporting this show!

Chinese Medicine Resources for Better Digestion

Episode 177: Microbiome Biohacking with Dr. Andrew Miles

Episode 227: TCM Nutrition tips for a Healthy Digestive Microbiome with Dr. Darlene Easton, DACM

Episode 236: Care and Feeding of Your Microbiome with Dr. Chris Damman

The Weirdest People In The World by Joseph Henrich

Connect with Dr. Andrew Miles:

Website

Podcast

Books