My own youngest daughter was born C-section (therefor no inoculation with normal vaginal microbes at birth), had IV antibiotics in the neonatal nursery due to a fever, and I was not knowledgeable enough at the time to breast feed (I had a hemoglobin in the the 6's after the C/S and thought it was useless with such profound anemia-I was wrong). She had eczema as a child, and patchy alopecia at 1 year of age- both known auto-immune diseases.
Fortunately, both resolved.
Then she developed serious sugar cravings as an adolescent, with associated acne. By then, I had trained in my current specialty and understood the influence of our gut Microbiome much better. She turned out to have a Candida overgrowth in her gut which triggered her brain to crave sugar- Candida lives on sugar- and does send signals to the brain!
At that time, we addressed the issue.
Her gut improved, sugar cravings decreased, skin cleared, etc. Then she started high school- and "carb loading" pasta parties, etc. for cross country running became a part of her life. Yes, distance running requires carb loading, this is undeniable science. Yet, for her, carb loading needed to be done with carbs other than gluten and sweets. She injured her leg with a stress inflammation reaction on her tibia- this was evident on an MRI.
For months, this pain did not resolve in spite of rest and ice, cycling/swimming- instead of load bearing exercise- all the right recommendations from the school trainers, coaches, and orthopedic surgeons involved. Her X-ray also showed unsealed growth plates- yet, as she said, she hasn't grown in 3 years. After a painful exam that involved a treadmill and needles to measure compartment pressures, the orthopedic surgeon specializing in Sports Medicine mentioned that we could always check blood for metabolic issues, such as parathyroid (calcium regulation), Vit. D, etc.
I couldn't believe I had never checked this!
I assumed that from running outside as much as they do, and her age (15) she would be fine. She eats pasture raised chicken and eggs daily- in front of me. We buy no bread or pasta in my home- even gluten free. Let me share her lab results: Vitamin D was so low it was in the single digits (optimal is 60), Ferritin, which is the protein in the blood that carries iron- was also in the single digits (mine is in the 140's at the age of 55).
No thyroid or parathyroid issues.
No anemia, yet.
Her intestines simply could not absorb the iron from her foods, and her skin could not absorb Vit. D. We cannot grow, we cannot build bone, and we cannot heal inflammation without proper nutrients. Every cell in our body has to be made and healed by not only what we put in our mouths, but by what we can absorb through our intestinal wall. This is the problem when we have a "Leaky Gut".
In the past 2 months, she has followed a fairly simple regimen with an anti-inflammatory, gut-healing shake in the morning which also serves as a pre-biotic, high dose pharmaceutical grade pro-biotics, high dose pharmaceutical grade Vitamin D, and prescription iron supplements. OK, I also gave her a Vitamin C "wound healing" IV- but just once- couldn't help my anesthesiologist background.
She is now able to walk without the "boot", and goes up and down stairs without pain. I will see how she does with light running, and slowly add load bearing as she tolerates it. She is finally healing! Now lets see if she grows- although she's already taller than her mother- so... I am sharing this story because so many of us have student athletes, they train so hard, we drive them all over the place- their coaches care, we care- yet if I am an MD with this training, and I missed this on my own child, how many other students are out there with less than optimal nutrition because of messed up intestinal flora?
How many injuries could be avoided, or healed better and faster if gut health is considered a part of their training? Knowledge and awareness is all we need. Feel free to call my office with any questions- this is so fundamental! Teri's only complaint- she is now getting periods again- ugh!!! of course she is! However- no complaints about her clear skin, right?