Ask HN: Are gut problems behind everything?

6 points by gbalint 2 years ago | 7 comments

I have autoimmune diseases, and I'm in a constant search for lifestyle changes which could potentially improve my condition. If you start to read up on health issues like this, you really quickly end up reading about food sensitivities, leaky gut, gut biome problems, and inflammation.

However, if you go to a doctor, then there is 95% chance that you won't hear about any of these. Alternative medicine was always around, but this feels like an alternative but somehow scientific (or maybe just pseudoscientific) parallel universe. It sounds intriguing (because it makes me believe that my officially incurable diseases are actually curable), but I have this general uneasy feeling that I can not understand this phenomenon.

Is this "gut problems are behind everything" theory is just simply quackery? Or is this just that we are more connected to new information, and these are just the ongoing changes in the scientific knowledge, which will be picked up later by the slow moving medical protocols? Or is this just some cherry picked information, which is not really relevant, because we could cherry pick other stuff too if those would be our personal preference? What is happening here? I consider myself a science geek, I would generally avoid unproven alternative therapies, but here I start to have the feeling that something real is going on and the doctors are just lazy to pick it up. But I may be completely mistaken by my wishful thinking! Some signs are surely positive, e.g. lots of articles in medical journals about the topic. Some other signs are suspicious, e.g. the whole detoxification and anti-vaccine vibes surrounding these concepts. Also the dieting ideas in this scene are so contradictory, that it makes me feel that this has nothing to do with science (lots of vegetables vs carnivore vs AIP vs mediterran etc).

Please, medical professionals of HN, let me understand this phenomenon.

coldtea 2 years ago |

>Is this "gut problems are behind everything" theory is just simply quackery?

I'd say it's more a blind shot into a wide domain we know little about or its mechanisms, often told with high confidence ("just boost your gut microbiome with X food/probiotic"), as dietary advice usually is.

I think a lot of it is also mistaking causes and effects or correlation for causation.

If anything of the sort trully and reliably worked for fixing X (not just having this or that paper with some mediocre results under dubious conditions, or some "testimonial" like stories of "it worked for me", from people we know nothing about their specific issues and comorbidities and other factors), then it would be packaged and marketed in an instant, not as dietary supplements and bro advice, but as official treatments.

rawgabbit 2 years ago |

An anti-inflammatory diet is a healthful eating plan that may help to reduce chronic low levels of inflammation that otherwise might increase the risk of various chronic diseases. Although research is limited, it may also help to lower inflammatory markers in individuals with autoimmune-type inflammation such as with rheumatoid arthritis. Popular dietary patterns that are anti-inflammatory include the Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, and vegetarian diets.…………. Along with the diet, it is important to incorporate other healthy lifestyle factors that positively affect the body’s immune response, such as practicing stress reduction, exercising regularly, and getting adequate sleep.

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/...

houseatrielah 2 years ago |

This book is changing my brother's family's situation; autistic 4 y/o just started speaking after about 3-weeks on the protocol (first word = ice cream), also the non-verbal 2-y/o started speaking as well (also on protocol). To be fair I haven't read it myself.

The Nemechek Protocol for Autism and Developmental Disorders: A How-To Guide for Restoring Neurological Function Book by Dr Patrick M Nemechek D O and Jean Nemechek

tommey 2 years ago |

I'm not a medical professional and only started learning about this field since March when I was introduced to Zinzino products, which target cellular and gut health. I learned about omega6-3, why these are important, what they do in the body and also they have fibers for the gut health, about that I read that it is indeed connected to allergies. My cousin had serious milk allergy, everything coming back in 5 minutes after consumption, now after 6 months of these products he can consume dairy products without an issue; so there is certainly something to this. You can check their website or we can have a chat at tommey.lu, I'm Hungarian too.

andrewl 2 years ago |

Speaking as an educated lay person, it seems unlikely gut problems are behind everything. It also seems unlikely that the gut is not involved in systemic health at all.

A search here for gut will get you a lot of results. Some are articles in the popular press, but others are from journals, such as this one from July 2022 in Nature:

Diet and its effects on the gut biome in the pathophysiology of mental disorders (nature.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32221449

There’s good discussion on this site, from medical professionals and educated lay people.

andrewl 2 years ago |

An article about the gut and Alzheimer’s was posted here earlier today:

Scientists discover links between Alzheimer’s disease and gut microbiota https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37931424

sysadm1n 2 years ago |

90% of serotonin is made in the gut. So if you look after your gut, you will feel less gloomy / depressed. I take probiotics, kimchi, eat plenty of fiber, and get good fats into my diet (avocados, eggs, nuts).