It’s funny, this year I will celebrate 20 years of being a registered dietitian. Yet medicine, especially in the area of gut health, is changing so rapidly that I feel almost like I’m starting over. Every week, I pour over new journal articles, blogs, and updates, realizing how much more we all still have to learn!
In the past year:
- I have taken a Nutrigenomix saliva test to analyze my nutritional genetic profile for 45 genes.
- I had my gut microbiome sequenced by The American Gut Project and uBiome.
- I had a blood test by Spectracell to analyze for micronutrient deficiencies.
What’s with all the crazy lab testing? I don’t feel as energetic as I used to. And and I’ve had more diarrhea in the past year than you want to hear about.
Last April I had the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon. It was an amazing bucket-list adventure with my family present to cheer me on. After marathon recovery, I reduced my running, and my energy levels pretty much returned to normal. In December I began training for a local marathon this April. It soon became apparent that my gut is more unhappy than it’s been in years, and my energy levels are not what they used to be. (I’m in denial about it just being the result of getting older!) So I’m digging for nutritional causes using functional and integrative nutrition. I will let you know as soon as I figure out what is the main issue.
The more I read, listen, and study, the more I truly believe that an imbalanced microbiome is the root cause of so many illnesses, conditions, and diseases. The internet is rife with inaccurate information, but also contains some fantastic gems. Here are a couple of my favorite blogs:
Gut Microbiota for Health newsletter
I have also been working on my second book on Runner’s Trots. (It’s always easier to say you are writing a book than actually writing it. I should be writing right now, but instead I’m doing a blog post!) My goal is to be finished by late August 2016. We have a Hood To Coast running team and I intend to post very large posters of my book cover on our team vans. Team #rockintheruns here we come.
