90. Clean Your Gut and Heal Your Inflammation with Preventative Medicine with Susan Blum

Dr. Susan Blum, who wrote The Immune System Recovery Plan, knows the ins and outs of the immune system, and is intimately familiar with the types of choices and behaviors that negatively impact it. We’re constantly bombarded by pathogens and toxins, but fortunately the immune system offers a defense against them. However, most of us are compromising our own immune systems through poor lifestyle choices, often without even realizing we’re doing it. If you’re ready to make the changes necessary to protect your immune system and help it protect you, listen in to learn how. And if you’re not ready now, after listening to this conversation, you will be! Find Out More About Susan Here: blumhealthmd.com@susanblum on Facebook@SusanBlumMD on Twitter@drsusanblum on Instagram In This Episode: [01:45] - Susan explains what preventive medicine is and how it relates to conventional medicine. She also explains that the root cause of disease is based in lifestyle, and clarifies what lifestyle medicine is. Finally, she discusses functional medicine. [04:40] - Stephan steps in to explain preventive medicine and functional medicine in basic terms. Susan then clarifies Stephan’s explanation. [08:01] - What are some of the things that Susan has learned that may help a general listener avoid diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and similar issues? She recommends “knowing your number” by asking your doctor for simple lab tests. [10:23] - Susan takes a deep dive into the role of food and diet in health. She offers basic recommendations such as getting rid of sugar and white flour, and eating whole foods. [13:31] - A moment ago, as she talked about knowing your numbers, Susan mentioned the size of lipoprotein particles. She and Stephan return to that topic. Susan does an NMR panel on every new patient who comes to her. She then offers an analogy to explain why the size of your lipoprotein particles matters. [19:46] - Susan shares her thoughts on statins. They’re really important for certain people, she says, and explains the factor that differentiates people who do and don’t need a statin. [23:15] - We return to the topic of inflammation, which is the source that drives diseases. Susan gives some recommendations for what listeners should know about what inflammation is and how to reduce it. [27:36] - Does Susan recommend a particular stool test? She uses one from Genova Diagnostics. She then clarifies that we’re still in our infancy for these tests, and that the tests have limitations. [31:14] - Susan offers her recommendations for herbal gut cleanses to reboot your flora. She then talks about how to do an elimination diet to figure out your triggers. [36:49] - Stephan asks whether you can test your blood for food allergies and sensitivities instead of going through the process of an elimination diet. Susan explains why the test is limited in the information it can provide. She then recommends that certain people include tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and peppers on the list of excluded foods in their elimination diet test. [40:36] - Stephan has seen firsthand the importance of doing this test on nightshades. Susan then points out that the problem isn’t that tomatoes are fattening, but rather that they’re triggering inflammation. [42:46] - How long does it take to go through the entire elimination and reduction diet process? It takes three weeks to do all the elimination, and then takes another three weeks or so for reintroduction. After explaining this, Susan points out that you don’t actually need to eliminate a food you’re sensitive to forever. She talks about what to do once you’ve found a food you’re sensitive to. [46:54] - Susan is entertained by the rumor that eating popcorn is bad for you, because it pokes holes in your gut and creates leaky gut. She explains that this isn’t true, but then goes on to discuss why there are problems with corn. She then discusses GMOs. [50:45] - We learn what fecal transplants are, and Susan shares her thoughts on them. [53:12] - What does Susan think of colonics? She explains that the jury is still out on them, and says that it’s possible to become dependent on them. [55:02] - Susan doesn’t think parasite cleanses are bad, but suggests doing them maybe once a year, not too often. [56:05] - We hear more about stool testing for parasites. Susan mentions a New York doctor named Kevin Cahill who tests for parasites. [58:11] - We shift to the topic of heavy metals. Susan explains some common types of metals in the body, and talks about ways of testing for them. She mentions her book, The Immune System Recovery Plan. [63:57] - Should we be concerned about Fukushima exposure in terms of radioactivity in our fish and seafood? [65:32] - Susan doesn’t eat tilapia, for example. She then shares that she is involved in a food business called Organic Pharmer, which has been vegan but may branch out into fish. [68:12] - To learn more about a liver tune-up, people can go to Susan’s site at blumhealthmd.com. Other than that, she suggests Googling “functional medicine detox.” She then provides some advice on how to care for your liver. [72:18] - Susan lists some things you can find when you go to her her website. She explains that she also does a Facebook Live session every Tuesday at 1 PM Eastern. Links and Resources: blumhealthmd.com@susanblum on Facebook@SusanBlumMD on Twitter@drsusanblum on InstagramThe Immune System Recovery PlanIcahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiThe Dr. Oz ShowCardio CRPHemoglobin A1cLipoprotein (a)Ketogenic dietLow glycemic dietPaleo dietThe Environmental Working GroupThe Clean 15The Dirty DozenNMR LabCorpLDL StatinsJUPITER trialMicrobiomeSIBO DysbiosisuBiomeEnterol Labsimmunolabs.com Genova Diagnostics Doctor’s Data Diagnos-Techs Designs for HealthGI Microb-XAdvaClearApex EnergeticsGI SynergyCandiBactin-BR from MetagenicsTricycline from Allergy Research Group BiocidinIgG testVisceral adipose tissueGlutamine GMOsMonsantoRoundup Kevin CahillClostridium DifficilePeristalsisArtemisiaEosinophils Fukushima Organic PharmerThe Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael PollanMetagenicsUltraClear PlusAcetylcysteine