The Autoimmune Doc Podcast w/ Dr. Taylor Krick - 042 - All About Parasites!!

042 - All About Parasites!!

08/17/22 • 54 min

The Autoimmune Doc Podcast w/ Dr. Taylor Krick

Parasites are interesting. That word means different things to different people, some people are terrified of the idea of worms living inside their body, but at the same time parasite cleanses are super trendy on Instagram and social media, and yet some people think that parasite cleansing is the solution to all health problems....which one is it?
Parasites are paradoxical in the research world, many areas of the world that have endemic parasitic infections have virtually no autoimmunity, and helminth therapy is actually an incredibly promising treatment for certain autoimmune cases. The reason that parasites are so relevant in the population of people that I see is because of our junk food supply, the toxins everywhere, and the rampant metabolic and immune disruption - - but they aren't always the ONLY culprit, they show up more often with the presence of heavy metals, Candida, SIBO, mold and other toxins. When they are recognized as bad, they elicit a strong and specific immune response that I talk about in detail in the podcast, triggering a Th2 immune response via IL-4 and activating mast cells and histamine, and often keeping someone stuck there (sound familiar??) as they become allergic to more foods, chemicals, and more sensitive to their world. They can also drive inflammatory bowel processes, cause liver and gallbladder issues, disrupt neurotransmitters, infect the brain, and much more.
While I certainly do NOT believe that parasites are a piece of every person's health puzzle, I do think "parasite cleansing" can be incredibly helpful in the right situation. In this podcast I share my personal opinions and personal experiences that I have had with parasites (including when I passed one!) and many stories of helping people with them, and they are pretty drastic stories. I also talk about the testing available and what I personally look for, as well as the supplements and protocols I recommend for people and how those are given, and basically everything that I know and think about parasites!
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Previous Episode

041 - GUT AND DIGESTION OVERVIEW - MY TOP 10 TOPICS

Ok so let's talk about gut health. Gut health and detox are pretty much the two most important topics, and toxins affect gut health....but good gut health is necessary for proper detoxification.....I think gut health wins. At least for this next podcast series :)
Gut health is foundational to health, inflammation, and aging. It's so crucial, but so few people seem to have it mastered IF they are still experiencing symptoms, and I mean ANY symptoms - joint pain, fatigue, anxiety, depression, bipolar, metabolic, certainly autoimmune flares, not just digestive symptoms. I'm going to go deeper into some specific topics in the next few episodes, but this one is an overview, and I made a list of the 10 most important things for gut health. The first 3 are symptoms, the next 4 are mechanisms, and the last 3 are infections, and understanding these 10 things will give you a pretty good grasp on understanding gut health and digestion overall!

Diarrhea - I talk about IBS, IBD, low microbiome and good bacteria/probiotics, glutamine, mast cells, and hydrogen SIBO....
Constipation - I talk dysbiosis/methane, and a LOT about vagal motor outflow and vagus nerve activity that controls motility as well as HCL, bile, enzymes....
Bloating - When I hear bloating I think small intestine and fermentation. Dysbiosis is often at the root, which includes proper digestion (HCL and bile), and I touch on SIBO/SIFO, avoiding FODMAPs foods....
Digestion - This is critical!! Chewing your food, being in parasympathetic mode, then proper stomach acid - it can be too high (mast cells) or too low (more common), pancreatic digestive enzymes, bile from the gallbladder (steatocrit), and of course VAGUS BABY!
Dysbiosis - The 10 lbs of bacteria in your gut can become imbalanced. Low good bacteria, general microbiome imbalances.....and LPS!!!!!
Leaky Gut - Everyone can have some intestinal permeability, is yours pathological, and if so what kind is it - paracellular or transcellular?
Food Sensitivities - IgG testing, and how food sensitivities can drive autoimmune reactivity, general inflammatory tone, and initiate T cell mediated tissue damage
SIBO - Bloating! Fermentation of fibers, starches, sugars, FODMAPs ...why you need HCL, bile, vagus outflow......Why I think SIBO testing is dumb....
Candida - OMG....the single biggest thing I see. Antibiotics, sugar, stress, birth control, mold exposure, can drive a Th17 inflammatory response (autoimmune), can also drive Th2 (and both will decrease Th1)......and why I love urinary organic acids testing for fungal issues.
Parasites - this I am going to do a whole episode on because it’s crazy, it’s quite frankly pretty controversial in the autoimmune world, is it better to have or to not have them??? The answer is IT DEPENDS. But I do talk about someone who was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and it actually seemed to be a parasitic infection, pretty interesting story :)

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Next Episode

043 - Your Amazing Liver

Your liver is seriously pretty amazing. I'm a 'mechanisms' kind of guy, and the liver is the king of mechanisms, including:
- The liver is crucial for metabolism, regulating blood sugar, lipid, and protein metabolism.
- The liver participates in immune surveillance and pathogen clearance, and is intimately connected with the gut.
- The liver performs "hepatic biotransformation", or transforming toxins into things that can be excreted, aka DETOXIFICATION.
The liver can be damaged by many things including lifestyle, alcohol, viruses, parasites, and especially toxins. As liver damage progresses, the liver becomes more congested, toxins begin to accumulate, and metabolic dysfunction can follow. Liver damage is generally a spectrum of worsening fibrosis, and often starts with "fatty liver" and then progresses toward cirrhosis, which is liver scarring. Liver damage can be detected by several labs, and I discuss these labs in detail.
In the liver there are many functions, but this podcast focuses mostly on hepatic biotransformation, or detoxification. This includes Phase 1 and Phase 2 of liver detox, cytochrome P450, and includes processes like methylation, sulfation, conjugation, and more. These processes require many cofactors such as B vitamins and amino acids, and I discuss these all in detail.
There are also many genetic mutations that can affect liver and detoxification, so I discuss these as well, along with the common and popular liver supplements and what their mechanisms are. All together this is a comprehensive overview of everything I know about the liver and how I use that information clinically in helping sick people get well!
Youtube video about Liver, Carnitine, and Depression....