Digestion & Gut Health

The gut heals in a sequence, and the order matters more than the products. Most people start with a probiotic, pick the one with the biggest number on the label, and expect the wall to rebuild while the fire is still burning. Then they cycle through eight more wondering why nothing holds.

Here is the order I work in clinic. First, quiet the irritation and open the exits: active infections, food reactions, low stomach acid, sluggish bile, and daily bowel movements all get addressed before anything else. Low stomach acid is the one I catch constantly and almost nobody tests for, and reflux is more often too little acid than too much.

Second, rebuild the wall. Your small intestine is lined by a single layer of cells held together by tight junctions, and that one-cell-thick barrier decides what reaches your bloodstream. L-glutamine is the primary fuel for those cells. Zinc-carnosine stabilizes the lining and stimulates its own repair. This is the step most people skip, and it determines whether anything after it sticks.

Third, reseed. Now the probiotics have a surface worth colonizing, and strain selection matters more than CFU count. Saccharomyces boulardii is a yeast, so antibiotics leave it standing, which makes it the right first pick after a course of them. Spore-based blends survive stomach acid better than most capsules.

In Chinese medicine this territory belongs to the Spleen, which governs transformation and transport. Bloating an hour after lunch, loose stools, heaviness after eating, and sugar cravings that never satisfy are the classic damp picture, and it worsens in late summer with cold drinks and raw food.

Start with the order I work the gut in, or the late summer bloating pattern if this is seasonal for you.