Mood, Memory & Immunity

That ‘gut feeling’ is your second brain! Our nervous system is closely connected to digestion. There is significant amounts of neural tissue found in the gut. In fact, 80% of neurotransmitters are produced in digestive system. The evidence supporting the gut-brain connection is established. Mood, memory & immunity all rely on the gut.

How Velcro Can Increase Your Neuroplasticity

by Amber Wood | Aug 16, 2019 | Gut Brain Axis, Home Page Featured

Our brains are built to learn, adapt & grow for our entire lives. Research on neuroplasticity has opened the field of human potential and healing exponentially in recent years. Some say that understanding how the brain can change is one of the most important...

Orgasms for Health & Humanity

by Amber Wood | Jun 27, 2019 | Gut Brain Axis

Women's Health, Human Rights & Orgasms Years ago a patient asked me, in a sincere way, how she could have more orgasms. At the time, I worked in a busy community clinic. I didn't have time to answer her question but it stayed with me. Yesterday a patient told me...

Are EMFs Dangerous?

by Amber Wood | May 15, 2019 | Gut Brain Axis

Electromagnetic frequencies (EMFs) are about intensify on the small island where I live. Residents of Salt Spring spoke up against the proposed 5G cell tower set to go up in our little town. There are pockets on this island where cell phones don't work. Many people...

Electrolytes & other Nutrients for Keto

by Amber Wood | Mar 11, 2019 | Gut Brain Axis

If you are experiencing symptoms on a ketogenic diet then it may be solved by increasing your electrolyte intake. As the body begins to burn fat instead of glucose for energy there can be rapid water loss. With this we can also lose a lot of salt and minerals. Our...

7 Tips for Seasonal Depression (SADD)

by Amber Wood | Nov 19, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Seasonal Affective Disorder is Real Millions of people experience the winter blues. This type of depression is known as SADD. There are several interventions that can help and even reverse SADD. Winter is an excellent time to get extra support either from a...

Depression & Allergies? Boost Methylation

by Amber Wood | Nov 5, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Optimizing methylation can help with depression, allergies and asthma. A recent meta analysis showed "consistently lower methylation levels observed at all associated loci across childhood from age 4 to 16 years in participants with asthma." The findings of this...

Neuroplasticity & the Brain

by Amber Wood | Oct 25, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Our brains adapt to early life experiences by creating imprints. We have many imprints both positive and negative that become part of how we see the world. The interesting part is our brains can change. The brain's ability to reorganize and form new neural...

Glycine or Collagen?

by Amber Wood | Oct 17, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis, Home Page Featured

Glycine is the Amino Acid that Gives Without knowing it, glycine is helping your body every day with muscle repair, cognitive function, metabolic health, and immunity. This amino acid assists in breaking down glycogen, fat and other nutrients to be used as energy at...

The Psychology of Your Gut

by Amber Wood | Aug 3, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Have You Heard of Psychobiotics? The microbes in our gut have far reaching psychological effects. In 2013 there was a ground breaking study proving that depressed mice were positively affected by a strain specific probiotic. Around the same...

Heart Health 101

by Amber Wood | May 16, 2018 | Eat for a Healthy Gut, Gut Brain Axis

Suppressing symptoms with pharmaceuticals to treat high blood pressure or cholesterol means missing the investigation as to why these are high in the first place. We know that blood sugar issues and metabolic syndrome contribute to heart disease. In fact there...

Five Key Habits for your Brain and Cognitive Function

by Amber Wood | May 16, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Brain health is influenced by many factors and we know there are a few habits that support long term function. The inflammatory cytokine model of depression shows the influence diet has on cognitive function. Omega 6 oils are linked to depression and are...

CBD is Changing The Game

by Amber Wood | May 13, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

CBD (cannabinoid) is a natural, safe, and effective. Its affect includes reducing inflammation, pain and seizures. There is evidence that it may inhibit cancer growth. It certainly helps with nausea and other side-effects of chemotherapy including loss of appetite. ...

Mold and other Biotoxin Illness

by Amber Wood | May 4, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

As you many of you know I've been going on meditation retreats for many years. Recently I was the health person on a retreat where mold illness was affecting three people. Another member of our community is literally debilitated from mold illness so it's quite...

What about Anxiety?

by Amber Wood | Apr 27, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

The Gut-Brain Connection Infections and other imbalances in the gut result in an inflammatory response in the brain. The inflammatory cytokine theory is well established in the scientific literature and is being embraced as the number one cause of depression. But...

Kids are at Risk

by Amber Wood | Apr 23, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Given the trends that we see in the general population towards a sedentary lifestyle it's not surprising our kids are less active than ever before. What are the health implications exactly? What can we do to change this? Do It Yourself Kids pick up on everything so...

Love Your Liver: Enjoy Looking & Feeling Your Best

by Amber Wood | Apr 18, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Lifestyle Medicine Your Liver As it warms up its easier to get outside more and get moving. Discovering ways to stay active all year long is important for many reasons. Organ health is at the top of that list. Our livers do more for us than any other organ. Caring...

What Happens When We Get Sick

by Amber Wood | Mar 30, 2018 | Gut Brain Axis

Immunity, Iron & Infections Bacteria love iron so your body will remove it from the blood and store it in the liver. This is why its important to check if anemia is due to chronic disease, iron deficiency or another cause. White blood cells are produced to destroy...

Protect Your Brain and Keep Your Memory

by Amber Wood | Dec 6, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

There are 44 million people currently experiencing alzheimers or dementia worldwide. There are a number of steps you can take no matter where you are in life to prevent and even reverse memory problems. Regulate blood sugar. Processed foods...

Antidepressants That Work

by Amber Wood | Nov 27, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

Modulating your gut flora has far-reaching benefits for your emotional and cognitive health says a study published by Trends in Neuroscience. This study uses the term psychobiotics to describe how prebiotics and probiotics affect the brain. The central nervous...

Do you have Candida? Or is it SIFO?

by Amber Wood | Oct 16, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis, Home Page Featured

What's the Difference? Symptoms like chronic yeast infections, brain fog and sugar cravings can indicate dysbiosis or an imbalance in the gut microbiome. About 20 years ago candida albicans began receiving a lot of attention. Some said to cause a long list of...

Get Your Appetite Back on Track with the Right Carbs

by Amber Wood | Sep 25, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

What makes us hungry? Carbs and the neuroregulation of appetite is getting a lot of press these days. As the epidemic of diabetes increases even young people are suffering the effects of obesity. The result is researchers are hell-bent on finding solutions. Our...

What’s the cause of chronic sinusitis?

by Amber Wood | Sep 14, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

Chronic sinusitis is unbelievably common. This is a condition termed in the medical literature as chronic rhinosinusitis or CRS. My five year old son has some dry inflammation in his sinus cavity. When I've taken him to get it checked out conventional medicine offers...

What is Methylation? Why is it so Darn Important?

by Amber Wood | May 25, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

A process that occurs in the body a billion times a second, is good to understand if you are interested in health. Poor methylation can affect the brain, the gut, and the liver. Methylation also repairs DNA, turns genes on and off, fights infection and gets rid of...

Rewire the Brain to Break the Trauma Cycle

by Amber Wood | Mar 31, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

Trauma change our brains and can create a chronic stress response. When squeezed hard, any human will experience overwhelm. What’s interesting is how we uniquely respond to trauma. A moment that is overwhelming lives within us until there are resources to integrate...

Do You Suffer From SIBO?

by Amber Wood | Mar 6, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

What is SIBO?In a healthy state, the small intestine has a low bacterial count. An overgrowth creates a condition called SIBO. Mild to severe digestive discomfort including gas, bloating and pain results. Bacteria is swept through the small intestine into the colon...

Building a Healthy Gut Ecosystem

by Amber Wood | Feb 13, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

A key differences between the way our ancestors ate and our modern diet is how much fermentable fiber we consume. Fermentable fiber is found in processed or acellular carbohydrates. We all know that vegetables and fruits are important for health. But which ones and...

Causes of Leaky Gut & How to Recover

by Amber Wood | Jan 24, 2017 | Gut Brain Axis

People ask me as many questions about leaky gut as candida. Candida is just one of many microorganisms that can be causing problems. Candida received enough attention in the last 20 years that people associate any gut imbalance, overgrowth or infection with it. Leaky...

Gut-Brain Axis: Irritable Bowel & Stress

by Amber Wood | Dec 13, 2016 | Gut Brain Axis

Due to the amount of neural tissue found in the digestive system many now refer to the gut as the second brain. Intuition, gut feeling and butterflies in the stomach all describe this. Ask anyone with irritable bowel and they will the confirm that stress is a...

Insight into Irritable Bowel Syndrome

by Amber Wood | Oct 26, 2016 | Gut Brain Axis

Missing Work? Likely it's a cold or IBS Digestive distress is real. It can be debilitating and expensive. Irritable bowel syndrome is the second cause of missed work days. In the U.S. over 30 billion dollars in medical costs each year are spent on IBS (irritable...

Acid Reflux: the Popular Myth

by Amber Wood | Jul 20, 2016 | Gut Brain Axis

The Real Cause of Acid Reflux Most people believe that acid reflux or heartburn is caused by too much acid in the stomach. This idea is supported by drug companies who make billions each year off of acid suppressing pharmaceuticals. The problem for patients is these...