The Shocking Reason Your Anxiety, Brain Fog & Bloating May Start in Your Gut

What if the anxiety, brain fog, cravings, and inflammation you’re trying to fix didn’t start in your brain, hormones, or immune system — but in the trillions of bacteria living inside your gut? In this episode, Dr. Josh Axe reveals the hidden chain reaction that can begin with low fiber, antibiotics, stress, and ultra-processed food — and may end in leaky gut, poor nutrient absorption, mood issues, obesity, autoimmune disease, and chronic inflammation. Uncover what’s really going on in your body with advanced biomarker testing for hormones, thyroid, and metabolism— plus a 1-hour consultation with a Senior Health Advisor! → http://mybloodwork.com Download the FREE Gut Healing Guide: https://bit.ly/draxegutreset Thank you to our sponsors! Sunlighten Sauna: https://get.sunlighten.com/axepodcast Manukora Manuka Honey: https://manukora.com/axe Caraway Home: carawayhome.com/drjoshaxe (Use code DRJOSHAXE) for an exclusive discount Watch The Dr. Josh Axe Show every Monday & Thursday on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drjoshaxe?sub_confirmation=1 🎧 Early Access! Our listeners enjoy every episode before anyone else! Tune in below and join our exclusive group of listeners → Spotify: https://bit.ly/DrJoshAxeSpotify Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3JDvWcS Pre-order my NEW BOOK, Heal Your Cells → https://bit.ly/3QJBcQ5 Watch my free training on how to naturally balance your blood sugar and reverse your symptoms → http://DrAxeDiabetesClass.com Discover practical steps you can take today to start healing your thyroid naturally → http://DrAxeThyroidClass.com If you’re ready to start feeling like yourself again and balance your hormones, take my free class → http://DrAxeHormoneClass.com CONNECT WITH DR. JOSH AXE Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/drjoshaxe/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/DrJoshAxe/ TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@thedrjoshaxeshow/ X → https://x.com/drjoshaxe/ LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshaxe Website → http://thehealthinstitute.com Sign up for my newsletter → https://bit.ly/4oE9Jf3 Ask Dr. Axe → http://speakpipe.com/drjoshaxe 00:00 – The Trillion-Microbe Paradox: You Are Outnumbered Inside Your Own Body 00:55 – The Root Cause of Anxiety, Brain Fog, & Bloating 06:35 – The Hidden Organ: What Your Gut Microbiome Actually Does 12:40 – The Fermentation Cascade: How Your Body Creates Short-Chain Fatty Acids 18:24 – The Gut-Brain Axis: How Bacteria Control Your Vagus Nerve 21:37 – Reversing Dysbiosis: Healthy vs. Disbiotic Gut Profiles 25:58 – The 6 Diversity Killers & The 4-Day Antibiotic Trap 31:25 – The Glyphosate Threat: How Non-Organic Foods Kill Good Bacteria 33:15 – Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT): The Cutting-Edge Ecosystem Reset 36:00 – The 30-Plant Protocol & Master Supplement Blueprint 41:23 – The Timeline: How Fast Can Your Gut Microbiome Completely Change? 44:37 – Rapid Fire Q&A: Leaky Gut, Artificial Sweeteners, & Histamine Reactions 49:16 – The 4 Critical Takeaways & Free Gut Reset Protocol DISCLAIMER This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Josh Axe and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Neither Dr. Axe nor the publisher of this content takes responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program. MB01GKPRPTQL1WL

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Josh Axe?

  Right now, as you're listening to me, you're outnumbered inside your own body. You're carrying 38 trillion bacteria. That's more than the number of stars in our galaxy. And in the next few minutes, I'm going to show you the actual science on how those microbes secretly control your mood, your immune system, and how long you actually live, and exactly what to eat to improve it. Because here's something that surprised even me. 90% of your serotonin isn't made in your brain. It's made in your gut microbiome. And stick with me, and I'm going to show you how to completely transform your gut microbiome today.

• 0:55Josh Axe?

  What if the anxiety you can't shake, the afternoon brain fog, or the bloating you've learned to live with, didn't start in your brain at all? What if it started in your gut? Today, I'm going to walk you through the science connecting your gut to your brain, and your mood, and your immune system. And I'll give you a simple five-step reset to improve the health of your gut microbiome. And I'll dive into one study that completely changed the way that I think about medicine. I can tell you, after taking care of tens of thousands of patients in my local brick and mortar clinic, and online, that the single most overlooked organ when it comes to our health is our gut microbiome.

• 1:38Josh Axe?

  As I shared, your gut microbiome is home to 38 trillion bacteria that quietly run your digestion, your mood, your immune system, and even how long you live. And right now, as I mentioned, you are outnumbered inside your own body with 38 trillion bacteria. That's more than the stars in the galaxy, and they're not along for the ride. They're actually running the show. Listen, your gut microbiome and these bacteria in your gut, they're responsible for nutrient absorption. So think about this. Let me ask you a question. How many vitamins and supplements are you taking right now? How well are you eating? Well, if your gut microbiome is not healthy, you might be absorbing less than 10% of the vitamins and supplements you're taking. You're only absorbing 10% of the vitamin C and iron and vitamin D

• 2:22Josh Axe?

  because your gut microbiome is in balance. And so, one of the greatest things you could ever do is fix your gut. I remember years ago, I had a patient come in, and I've had this happen many times. And she was taking something like 80 pills a day of supplements. She was dealing with major fatigue, brain fog. She was overweight. She was just holding a lot of water. And she was getting vitamin B12 shots every single week. And still, her B vitamin levels weren't normal on blood work. And so, I said, hey, we're going to follow a completely different approach. We are going to go to the root of your issues and start focusing on your gut. Now, you've heard this quote before, but it's important. Hippocrates said over 2,000 years ago, "All, not 90%, not 50%, all disease begins in the gut."

• 3:07Josh Axe?

  And so, what I started doing with this patient is I said, listen, we're going to put you on high dose probiotics. We're going to start consuming polyphenols and follow a diet that's really going to change your gut microbiome. And after three months, she was able to get completely off all of her medications. She was able to get off her vitamin B12 shots, and her B levels were finally normal. You know, there's a study out of Stanford, and it found that if you start supplementing with certain types of probiotics and following a specific type of diet, it can double your rate of absorption of B vitamins and nutrients that get into your bloodstream and into yourselves. But if your gut microbiome isn't healthy, it doesn't matter how many supplements you take or what you do. Your body cannot heal properly.

• 3:51Josh Axe?

  And this goes back to one of the most amazing phenomenon in all of medicine is half of your body isn't human. And today, I'm going to walk you through how to fix that half. I'm going to bring you through a doctor's guide to the gut microbiome and the real science, the exact plan and protocol to completely transform your gut microbiome. Now, a few other things I want to dive deep into today is how your gut microbiome controls your hormones. I mentioned earlier, 90% of your cerammona, that's your good Mood hormone, if you want to be happy and joyful and even sleep well, you need serotonin, 90% is created in your gut. But you also know that around 20 to 30% of your thyroid hormone hormone conversion happens in your gut microbiome.

• 4:34Josh Axe?

  Part of your estrogen conversion of your body creating the right amount of estrogen and testosterone. Some of that happens in your gut microbiome. Now here's a problem, listen to this. One of the biggest reasons why we have such an imbalance in our gut microbiome today is the overuse of antibiotics. This is going to shock some of you. There was a medical study that found that if you take an antibiotic drug for four days, they went and retested the gut microbiome six months later. And there were many species and strains of probiotics in your gut that still hadn't returned. So sometimes when you take antibiotics, you permanently kill certain types of bacteria and yeast that you need to be healthy. And many of them never return. The other stat we know is 70 to 80% of your immune system is found in your gut microbiome.

• 5:19Josh Axe?

  So if you have a weak immune system, the first thing you have to fix is your gut. So here's what I'm going to dive into today and what you don't want to miss. Number one, what your gut microbiome actually is and how it functions and why it's so important. Number two, fiber. And not just any fiber, you might think, oh, maybe I should take psyllium husk or maybe I need to eat more apples or oatmeal. No, there are specific types of fiber that work better than others for helping grow and cultivate the health of your gut microbiome. And if you consume the wrong one, it'll actually cause health problems. Also, this is important. If you have histamine reactions, if you have loose stool, if you have constipation, you actually want to change the type of fiber you're consuming and I'll get into that. Number three, the gut-brain access.

• 6:01Josh Axe?

  Why your gut is your second brain and the connection between your gut to your brain, to your skin and to your immune system. Number four, when it goes wrong. I'm going to walk through the single biggest factors causing disruption in your gut microbiome, and some of them are absolutely going to surprise you. Common medications, common daily lifestyle practices. Number five, I'll go through how to experience a breakthrough. How do you create the optimal, healthy gut microbiome? And the last thing I'll touch on is the foods and steps to rebuild your gut microbiome fast. So here's what your gut microbiome is. It is the community of bacteria. Fungi and viruses living in your gut, mostly in your colon, together they act as a hidden

• 6:45Josh Axe?

  organ. They act as an organ in your body, just like your liver or your gallbladder. They're responsible for digestion. They break down fiber you can't and make vitamins and minerals. Did you hear that? This is important. Your gut microbiome actually creates vitamins and minerals like B vitamins and butyric acid and essential fatty acid for your cell membranes in your brain. So your gut actually creates vitamins. Second, it defends your body. Your gut microbiome and those microbes help fight off candida and parasites and heavy metals and other toxins. Even glyphosate chemicals helps you detoxify. Third, they support communication and hormone balance. They talk to your brain through your vagus nerve. So you have your primary brain,

• 7:30Josh Axe?

  then you have a second brain in your gut, and those two nervous systems and brains communicate. Number four, they protect, they guard the gut barrier, keeping toxins out of your bloodstream and defending your body from leaky gut syndrome. So let's talk about your gut by the numbers. So here's what we used to believe. We used to believe that the number of gut bacteria was less than your cells. Then in the early 2000s, studies came out that said, no, we think the bacteria in your gut is 10 times more than the cells in your body. Well, here's what we found in the latest scientific evidence where we actually now know for certain how many microbes

• 8:11Josh Axe?

  we have versus how many cells we have. It's around a one to one or about a 1.3 to 1.0 ratio. So it's very close to even. Isn't that amazing? That the number of cells in your own body is almost exactly equal to the amount of microbial cells, microbes that live in your gut.

• 8:33Josh Axe?

  So when I said half of your cells, that's the reality. So think about this, if half of your body's microbial, here's a question for you. How are you taking care of that half? Now, I want to walk you through the most important, or some of the most important players in your gut microbiome. The first is a type of bacteria called Akkermansia. Now, this is the gatekeeper probiotic. Okay, and this has had recent research on it, acting as a natural GLP-1 support. So it's good for weight loss, it's critical for metabolism. One of the things that's really important for it, though, is supporting your intestinal barrier. It's one of the number one bacteria for protecting your gut against leaky gut syndrome. It also feeds your gut lining, so the barrier stays sealed, right?

• 9:17Josh Axe?

  So remember this with leaky gut, it's almost like you've got a kitchen strainer. Certain things should pass through, certain things shouldn't. Akkermansia is that gatekeeper that keeps your gut sealed up, which is very important for supporting your body against autoimmune disease and autoimmune reactions, and generally supporting immunity. The second important bacteria that makes up your gut microbiome is Bifidobacterium. Now, this is known as the peacemaker. This is incredibly important, especially at birth. A lot of the probiotics that are passed on from a mother to a child are Bifidobacterium. These bacteria calm inflammation, and they train your immune system. So when we talk about 70% of your immune systems in your gut,

• 9:59Josh Axe?

  Bifidobacterium activate T killer cells and NK cells, and a lot of these cells that fight cancer and pathogens in the body. And then we have Lactobacillus. Now, this is sort of the classic probiotic you're going to get in things like yogurt and kefir. These live in your gut, but they're very important for your mood and that gut-brain connection. And then we have a probiotic that's rarely been heard of. It's called F. prosnizidi. And this is the fuel maker. It is the top butyrate producer in your colon. Now, here's what butyrate is, I'll get into it more in a minute. Butyrate or butyric acid is a type of fatty acid that's created in your gut that is very important for

• 10:43Josh Axe?

  Fueling your cells and helping transform your cell membrane. Remember your cell membrane allows nutrients to get in and helps toxins get out. And when your body doesn't have enough butyrate, it negatively impacts your brain, your nervous system, your cell membranes. Very, very important. The next we have are soil-based organisms. Now, these probiotics don't take residence as much in your gut as others. They're called spore-forming bacteria, SPO, or soil-based organisms. But these spore-forming tend to transiently sort of go through. They pass through and they leave and they pass through. They're kind of always coming and going in

• 11:25Josh Axe?

  your body, or they should be coming and going. And soil-based bacteria are the most resistant to stomach acid. They help rebuild the berry. But here's what they do. They act as a bulldozer. If you have too much Candida, or parasites, or pathogenic microbes in your body, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus coagulans, these Bacillus SPO probiotics, act like a bulldozer and clear out the bad bacteria, viruses, and parasites out of your body. And the last here, key player, are what I call the pathobions. Okay, these are the pathogenic bacteria. They're the troublemakers. Okay, in small amounts, they're harmless. But when your diversity drops of

• 12:07Josh Axe?

  the most necessary bacteria, like Bifidobacterium, they start to sort of take over too much. So, Candida, E. coli, H. pylori, Blastoceps hominis, these are, those primarily are the ones that start to grow out of control. Candida maybe being the largest one, and H. pylori, that will wreak havoc on your body, causing you to not absorb nutrients as well, not be able to create nutrients as well, weaken your immunity, and cause major health issues. And I want to walk you through kind of the pathway and the cascade of how your body creates more of these good or even bad bacteria in the body. So it really starts with this. You eat fiber or resistant starch, okay, and polyphenols to a degree too. So, these are things you can't

• 12:53Josh Axe?

  Your own. And so the bacteria actually go and they ferment it in your colon, they break it down and that turns into different microorganisms. Then what happens once during that fermentation process, they release what are called short chain fatty acids. Now many of you've heard of like medium chain fatty acids, those are found in coconut oil. Those are great for ketones and for supporting healthy energy levels. Long chain fatty acids, of course, are good for hormones and a number of other things. But these short chain fatty acids are critical for the creation of, as I mentioned, butyrate, acetate, and other types of fatty acids that your brain and body need. And here's what these short chain fatty acids do. They fuel your colon. So remember, medium chain fatty acids are like

• 13:37Josh Axe?

  fuel for your brain. Okay. Found in coconut oil, fuel for your brain. Short chain fatty acids are fuel for your colon and for your cells and they calm inflammation. So they actually power your cells and seal your gut barriers. Remember, short chain fatty acids critical for cell membrane, reducing inflammation, but also as fuel for your colon and intestines. And this is pretty amazing. 70% of your colon cells energy. So that so the energy that your digestive system needs to function properly comes from butyrate. And this is a fuel your own body actually just makes in really small amounts in but your bacteria rely heavily

• 14:20Josh Axe?

  on it. And again, here's why butyrate matters so much. It powers and repairs gut barrier cells. It calms inflammation throughout your entire body. Oftentimes, when you're having joint pain, that's not coming from your joint. The majority of the time with conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, it's coming from the gut itself. The other thing butyrate does is it helps regulate blood sugar and appetite. So when you're craving food or you just feel a smooth, healthy energy throughout the day, butyrate is responsible for that. Also, butyrate supports cellular function and even mitochondrial function. And there are three primary short chain fatty acids. Number one is butyrate, which makes up about 20% of those molecules that you're finding in that gut microbiome.

• 15:03Josh Axe?

  Short chain fatty acids. Then you have propionate, which goes to and actually impacts and communicates with the liver. But it really stays more local and really is most important for that kind of gut microbiome. Propionate, as I mentioned, is important for liver and blood sugar function. And then there's one called acetate, and that actually is the largest amount of short chain fatty acids that your gut creates. And this travels through the blood and helps regulate appetite, but even your cholesterol levels. So it helps with balancing cholesterol. And here's an important thing to know. This is why fiber intake is so important. If you don't eat fiber, your body does not produce most of these short chain fatty acids. This is another reason why I don't love the carnivore diet long term.

• 15:48Josh Axe?

  I like it short term for people that have major illnesses, major inflammatory responses, issues related to mold toxicity, histamine, where you kind of get down and do predominantly meat for a period of time. But long term, if you're not getting plants in there and fiber, your body's going to have a very hard time producing short chain fatty acids. And over time, I think this can cause health issues related to gut health in the immune system and even brain health. And as I mentioned earlier, one of the amazing things that some of these gut microbes do, and these short chain fatty acids are part of it, is there is this communication happening between your gut and your brain. I have a colleague that's a friend of mine, Dr. David Perlmutter, and he wrote a book called Grain Brain.

• 16:31Josh Axe?

  And a few, I think this year I had William Davis on who wrote a book called Wheat Belly. Both of these medical doctors have written about in their books this connection between the gut and the brain. And I've done a lot of research on this myself. And the way this works is, is we have these trillions of bacteria in our colon. Okay, those produce metabolites like short chain fatty acids and GABA neurotransmitters and serotonin. Those then communicate with our brain and our nervous system like the vagus nerve. So this is also why when your gut is healthy, you have a greater chance of being able to have more balanced hormones, even lowering cortisol levels, having more of that calm serenity, lower stress levels.

• 17:13Josh Axe?

  When you're creating more of these short chain fatty acids, then your vagus nerve, of course, communicates and connects to your brain and that's going to impact your mood, your stress, your ability to focus, even your appetite. So your gut has a really deep connection to your nervous system and your hormones. And to give you a specific example of this, of how your gut bacteria are so connected to your brain, there was a study done in mice where they went and they cut part of that connection to the vagus nerve. And there was a specific probiotic called lactobacillus rhamnosus, and it measurably reduced anxiety and changed the brain's calming receptors. Okay, so they saw it had that effect on the body. Isn't

• 17:55Josh Axe?

  that amazing? So think about this, a lot of times when we think about depression or anxiety, the first supplements we run to might be vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids. Some people turn to a medication. We think of St. John's Wort, Sam E, saffron, and those are amazing supplements. However, studies are showing that changing your gut microbiome and using probiotics can also have a profoundly positive effect on your brain and nerve system. But here's what they found in the study. If we would cut the vagus nerve, those probiotics no longer had the same effect on the brain. So really, there is a very specific pathway where the bacteria impacts the nerve, the vagus nerve, which then impacts the brain. And the vagus nerve is sort of this

• 18:39Josh Axe?

  connection between your second brain and your gut and your primary brain. And when that line, that vagus nerve is cut that connects the two, the bacteria no longer have the same positive effect on your brain. In fact, in this study done, when the vagus nerve was cut, the impact dropped to zero. Now, a few more important things to know about your gut microbiome. And this is, this is critically important. Number one, your gut is one of a kind. Your microbial mix is nearly as individual as your fingerprints. Even close family share only a fraction of the same species. And this is why I believe so strongly in personalized medicine as well. Every patient I care for, I lay out

• 19:23Josh Axe?

  A very specific individualized plan. In fact, I can say this with confidence. I have not had a patient I've taken care of probably in the last five years that has had the exact same nutrition plan. Every supplement recommendation, every now, there might be some similarities. I'll give an example. If I have somebody come in with hypothyroidism, oftentimes I am recommending ashwagandha and selenium and certain other nutrients. However, with the advanced blood work I do, I can see and map out exactly what's going on with them. I also do tongue mapping. I get all of this history. And every person gets it dialed in specifically to them. And the reason I do that is that's how you get the best results because all of you, every one of you has a unique gut microbiome, you have unique epigenetic needs,

• 20:05Josh Axe?

  and you need something customized specifically for you. So my point there is, is your gut is one of a kind. Number two, your gut keeps a daily clock. Your microbes rise and fall on a daily and nightly rhythm. And this is why sleep is so important because your body balances out some of these microbes while you sleep. Number three, birth sets the first seed. Vaginal versus C-section delivery starts babies off with strikingly different microbiomes. And four, your bugs sway your cravings. Gut microbes help shape appetite, influencing which foods you reach for next. I'll give you an example of this. If you have a lot of the right type of bifidobacterium

• 20:47Josh Axe?

  and lactobacillus and acromancy and these gut microbes in your gut, you're not going to really crave sugar very often. You're just not going to crave it. If you have a lot of imbalanced bacteria in your body, these pathogenic bacteria, like the candida, for instance, certain microbes in your gut crave different things. Candida craves sugar. It says, I want more and more and more. And the more candida you have, the worse your sugar cravings are going to be. And so there's this sort of like vicious cycle that takes place. Now here is this cascade of what I call dysbiosis. Dysbiosis means biosis. We're talking about sort of the bacteria in your microbiome and dys means it's, it's imbalanced. It's not right. It's not correct.

• 21:28Josh Axe?

  So when we create this dys, this disruption in your microbiome, it starts with this. Low fiber intake.

• 21:37Josh Axe?

  Taking drugs and medications like antibiotics and chronic stress. Those three things are the single biggest things destroying your gut microbiome. Low fiber and low nutrient intake, antibiotics, chronic stress. And I would also throw as a fourth one on there, overconsumption of sugar. Okay. With that, you have loss of microbial diversity. Well, when you have less microbial diversity, now your gut produces less short chain fatty acids like butyrate. Now your gut barrier weakens, causing leaky gut. Leaky gut then allows endotoxins and undigested food particles and toxins into your bloodstream. That creates chronic low-grade inflammation.

• 22:18Josh Axe?

  That inflammation that happens over and over and over again, leads to increased insulin, obesity, depression, irritable bowel disease, and over time autoimmune disease. This is the exact cascade that happens in almost every person with autoimmune disease, IBD, depression, and obesity. So this is a predictable chain reaction. Another thing that I'll do in my clinic is I will do what's called a GI map, where we do a stool sample for three days, send that into a lab. We get the results back and I can see exactly what microbes are in your gut. Okay, I can see the good bacteria. I can see the bad bacteria. I can see the yeast, the fungi, the candida, the parasites, certain viruses. I see all of those mapped out there. And then I know the exact right herb snake.

• 23:03Josh Axe?

  So for instance, if it's a parasite, we want to do wormwood and black walnut. If it's an issue such as candida, right? We might be a little bit more oregano and berberine and focus more on caprylic acid and a very specific type of diet for that. Maybe you're deficient in certain types of bacteria. So then I'll want to hone in on a very specific type of probiotic. The problem is a lot of people today, you're guessing because you've never had the right type of blood work or GI map, and so you don't even know where to start. Now I'm going to walk you through for most of you, what's going to make the biggest difference and what will help everyone. Still, oftentimes there is value in getting a GI map done. So let me give you a comparison of a healthy gut versus a Disbiotic gut microbiome.

• 23:46Josh Axe?

  A healthy gut has high microbial diversity, right? So it has a larger amount. I remember doing this years ago. I wrote a book called Eat Dirt and I studied all of these different cultures. And we found the cultures with the greatest diversity had the best dental health, the best heart health, the best metabolisms. So you want large microbial diversity and I'll talk about how to create that in a minute. You want a thick, protected mucosal layer of your gut. You want abundant short chain fatty acids like butyrate. A healthy gut is also, it's calm, it has low inflammation. It's also has a tight and sealed gut barrier. A Disbiotic gut, low diversity, few dominant bugs, thin eroded mucosal layer, increasing your risk of leaky gut, very low short chain fatty acid production.

• 24:31Josh Axe?

  Those are some of the problems we're going to see. And when that happens, when you have poor gut microbial diversity, it is connected according to clinical studies. Number one, IBS and IBD, it could be Crohn's, colitis, IBS, but also just generally digestive issues like gas and bloating. Food sensitivities are all connected there. So these digestive issues. We also see metabolic issues with microbial diversity. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. We see brain and mood issues, depression, anxiety are high on the list, even dementia. We see weakened immunity, we see rheumatoid arthritis, MS, allergies and asthma.

• 25:12Josh Axe?

  We see skin issues, eczema, acne, rosacea, psoriasis. And then we see cardiovascular issues, heart disease and even colorectal cancer when you don't have enough microbial diversity. And so the next question is, well, what is killing your gut bacteria? Well, let me walk you through the six biggest diversity killers of your gut microbiome. Number one is ultra-processed food, right? Ultra-processed food is low in fiber, it's low in polyphenols and it has inflammatory compounds like sugar and certain types of inflammatory oils that are going to eat away at your gut lining and damage your bacteria. So ultra-processed food is the number one killer today of

• 25:58Josh Axe?

  Good microbes in your gut. Number two, broad spectrum antibiotics. Carpet bombing your ecosystem of your gut is a terrible idea. The number one most over prescribed medication today, at least in kids, is likely antibiotic drugs. Often today, these kids have viruses. They're prescribed antibiotics which never kill a virus. You wipe out all the good bacteria for these kids and now your kids are more susceptible to immune issues and allergy issues and weakened immune responses and a number of health problems. Even cancer and autoimmune disease are increased in the future. Number three are certain medications. Did you know that contraceptive drugs, that's right, birth control, acts as an antibiotic as well in the body?

• 26:41Josh Axe?

  So greatly harms the gut microbiome. PPI drugs, NSAIDs and metformin, all reshape the microbial community, all of those damage the gut microbiome. Number four, glyphosate and pesticides. These herbicides not only kill bugs on our plants, they kill the bugs in your gut. Number five is chronic stress. I can't over exaggerate how much stress damages our gut. It shifts your community and weakens the barrier in your gut. So, so stress, it almost starts to feed the bad bacteria and starves the good bacteria when cortisol gets too high. And then number six, I've mentioned this once before, too little fiber.

• 27:22Josh Axe?

  The average adult gets 15 grams of fiber a day when they should be getting 35 grams of fiber a day. So we're getting less than half the amount of fiber we should be getting. And remember, good microbes feed off of fiber. There is a specific study done in regards to the use of antibiotics. And they found that if you use an antibiotic for just four days, just four days, not even finishing a full round, nine species of bacteria were still gone six months later. And these were important species. Here's the reality, okay? Antibiotics can save lives in an emergency. But they are over prescribed approximately 90% of the time. I had Dr. Marty Makary,

• 28:06Josh Axe?

  the former head of the FDA on my show, and he shared with me that they are the most over prescribed medication in children and that they were doing more harm than good, generally speaking. Because here's what happens. Antibiotics don't just clear the infection, it wipes out beneficial species of bacteria that live in your gut. Here's the other thing, I think I've noticed this in more recent years. People are getting the common cold and flu, and I think that they're having a harder time beating it. We saw this especially, of course, with the COVID strain for other reasons. But these bugs are becoming more resistant. They're becoming more resistant to the antibiotics we're taking. I think they're generally just becoming stronger and more resilient. And so by the overuse

• 28:50Josh Axe?

  of antibiotics, we're also creating these superbugs that are harder for our bodies to beat. Now, I do want to mention, I had to get on antibiotic. I've only been on antibiotic one time since I was, I don't know, probably 18 years old. It's been a long time. And it was when I had my spinal infection, nearly died about three years ago, three and a half years ago. And I had to get on it because of this infection was eating away at my bone and my disc and by my spinal cord. And I had to do it for one month. I did it as an IV, which is actually less harmful in your gut, on your gut, but more harmful on your cells and mitochondria. All that being said, I was very conscious of what to do. And I spent hundreds of hours researching how to help heal the microbiome, how to protect it. I

• 29:32Josh Axe?

  called friends of mine, Jordan Rubin, and Dr. Gezogoli, and some of the best doctors around the country. And I put together a program for myself to most protect and help my body heal after using antibiotics. And what the research shows is, you want to do very, very high levels of probiotics. That's the single most important thing. And you want to do diverse strains, you want to do soil based organisms, but I would say around 500 billion to a trillion daily, very high dose probiotics for three to nine months after you take an antibiotic drug, if you ever have to. In addition, you want to do high fiber. You want to do the right types of fiber, low sugar. Also, you want to consume a lot of B vitamins because when you take antibiotics,

• 30:14Josh Axe?

  it sort of wipes out your body's ability to produce B vitamins. And that can also weaken mitochondrial function. You also want to consume a lot of foods that are rich in polyphenols, which I'll hit on in just a minute. But overall, if you ever take antibiotics, the diet is low sugar. It's high fiber fruit. It's steamed vegetables. It's organic meat. It's a lot of this good forms of fiber and it's very high dose probiotic. If you ever have to take an antibiotic, that's exactly what you want to do to help rebuild your gut microbiome fast. Now, I want to mention another antibiotic. Now, we don't think about it like this, but glyphosate is an antibiotic. It kills bugs and bacteria that may impact plants.

• 30:58Josh Axe?

  But anytime we're eating food that's non-organic, you're almost always getting some level of glyphosate in the food you're eating. You know, glyphosate kills weeds by blocking an enzyme called E S P S. And we've been told that it's safe because human cells don't have this. That's true, but here's the thing, your gut bacteria do. So it may not harm your cells, but it does harm all of the bacteria in your gut, specifically bifidobacterium. Remember that key probiotic that I talked about that a mother passes on to her child? That's the bacteria that is greatly harmed and injured with glyphosate. So if you're eating non-organic food, a lot of the dirty dozen food and non-organic meat, you're getting glyphosate.

• 31:43Josh Axe?

  If you're spending a lot of time on golf courses, you're typically exposed to glyphosate. This is a chemical that's sprayed on wheat, oats, corn, soy, and a majority of our plants today. And so we know Roundup and glyphosate harm bifidobacterium. But here's what they also found in the study. 54% of your gut microbiome, of your microbes, contain this E S P S. So generally speaking, Roundup and glyphosate are going to damage 54% of the microbes in your gut, especially bifidobacterium and lactobacillus. Those are the main probiotics that you need for health and survival. So the key here, when it comes to avoiding Roundup and glyphosate, is eat organic.

• 32:28Josh Axe?

  This is my biggest argument I could make for switching and eating organic as much as you possibly can with your food. Now, I mentioned that in order to heal my own gut when I was diagnosed with a life-threatening infection and got an antibiotic, the biggest thing I did was took probiotics, and I consumed more fiber. There's another type of advanced therapy I did, though, that is really, really cutting-edge, and it may sound a little bit strange, but here's what it is. Doctors are curing infections and healing gut microbiomes with stool. There's a type of therapy, it's called FMT, fecal microbiota transplant. Okay, this is moving

• 33:07Josh Axe?

  a healthy person's gut bacteria into a sick one. Okay, this is now standard of care for recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. This is an infection that antibiotics often can't beat. So here's a study. So here's what they do. They take the healthy microbes in the form of stool from one individual and do it to another. Now, you could do this as a suppository, or now they have these time-release capsules where you can actually do this as capsules. And so here's how it works. You take a healthy donor, and they're screening the stool. They're looking for everything right. They're doing essentially a GI map, an in-depth GI map to say, is this person's stool healthy? And they test a lot of people and only find a few. Well, they find that, and then they transfer it,

• 33:49Josh Axe?

  as I mentioned, capsule or procedure into the colon. And then, there is an, basically what happens is an ecosystem reset. This donor microbes recolonize and outcompete bad bacteria like C. difficile and Candida and these other types of microbes. And then over time, the patient recovers. This is where antibiotics fail. Listen to this study. Eighty-one percent of patients that went through FMT therapy, eighty-one percent cured with bacteria. With the drug, only thirty-one percent. So using someone else's gut microbiome, their stool, to reset yours, eighty-one percent effective, thirty-one percent effective with the drug. By the way, the thirty-one percent effective, that's in the short term. We're not even talking about

• 34:35Josh Axe?

  The antibiotic used in that study is called vancomycin. This is a very powerful drug that long-term is going to cause other immune issues. So you would have a choice 81% effective by using FMT therapy versus 31% effective short-term with major medical issues down the road. By the way, in the study, this was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. They actually stopped the trial early because they felt like it was no longer ethical to keep patients on the worst treatment and they decided to transfer them all over to this new treatment instead. That's how much more effective FMT therapy is. And by the way, this was something that I did when I had to get on antibiotics for a month to totally heal and restore my body.

• 35:19Josh Axe?

  And so if you're a person and you know you have a radically unhealthy gut microbiome and you've ever had an issue like C. difficile or major inflammation of your colon or other health issues, just major imbalance. Here are the steps I would encourage you to do. Number one, get a GI map. By the way, this is something that we can do at the longevity clinic, we can help you with, or find a great doctor who does this sort of advanced functional medicine testing with GI maps. And then also consider FMT therapy because it's probably the most effective single thing you could do, most advanced therapy for resetting your entire gut microbiome. Now, if you're like me and you want to know exactly what to do and what to aim for to have a healthy gut microbiome, I want to give you the statistics and numbers you should

• 36:03Josh Axe?

  be aiming for in terms of your plant variety and your daily fiber intake. Okay. So, by the way here, I want to mention this. You do not want to be normal. Normal is not the goal. Normal is not good. Okay. The normal person on a weekly basis consumes about 10 different types of plants. Okay. 10. And so plants, of course, you know, this could be everything from oats to rice to lettuce to vegetables, to fruits, to beans, any type of those plants. Okay. The average person gets 10 in their rotation on a weekly basis. You really want to be shooting for at 20 to 30. That's what you should be shooting for.

• 36:44Josh Axe?

  For is a much wider variety of plants on a regular basis. And so the way we do this and and by the way, because the more plant variety you have, typically the more diverse your gut bacteria is because different types of polyphenols and antioxidants and different types of fiber and nutrients support the growth of different types of microorganisms and bacteria. And so for instance, for breakfast, you shouldn't do an apple every day. It's you have an apple one day and then kiwi and then blueberries and then a bunch of different types of berries together and you sort of get more variety there. One morning of oatmeal, another you do have an apple, another morning you add pumpkin or sweet potato to a smoothie. If you're steaming or baking vegetables,

• 37:26Josh Axe?

  one day you do broccoli and cauliflower, another day carrots and asparagus, another day zucchini and squash. So you are getting more variety in your diet, right? Eating the full color of the rainbow, that's good advice and that creates a better and more healthy gut microbiome. And the daily fiber intake, the average person is getting around 14 to 15 grams of fiber a day. You want to be getting at least 30 for most people. So we want to go from 15 up to 30. You want to at least double it. By the way, eating more of the fruits and vegetables and beans and nuts and seeds and more of those plants we talked about, that's going to help get you there. And let me go through some of the top gut healing foods and fiber rich foods that you'd want to be adding in that are

• 38:11Josh Axe?

  very helpful for healing. Number one are onions, garlics and leeks. Okay, they contain a key compound called inulin. It is a fermentable fiber that is very good for bifidobacterium and Akkermansia. Now I do want to mention, okay, if you have a histamine reaction, so let's say you eat certain foods and you know you have histamine and mast cell reaction, your skin gets red, you just you have a reaction, okay, then you may not want to get all these foods. We want to do certain types of fiber that are not going to be as fermentable and I'll talk about those in a minute. Okay, now here's some other gut healing types of fiber. So we talked about the onion, garlic and leek. In addition, you want to do cooked potatoes.

• 38:55Josh Axe?

  And then you can let them cool and then eat them later, even even later on that day or the next day. But the type of starch in sweet potatoes and white potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, any type of potato is fantastic. This type of resistant starch is the number one starch that's going to support butyrate production. By the way, I also believe that plantains have a similar type of starch in them as well. In addition, I want to talk about a kind of category of I could call it fiber in general here. They're actually, I think, long chains of polysaccharides, but it's called beta glucan. And these are found in large amounts in oats, barley, and mushrooms like shiitake and maitake. These

• 39:35Josh Axe?

  beta glucans also create butyrate. They also activate and build your immune system, creating more natural killer cells, T cells that fight cancer and infections. So oats, barley, and mushrooms, specifically more of the medicinal mushrooms like shiitake and maitake. Then we have the live cultures in kimchi and sauerkraut. These create more of the lactobacillus species like lactobacillus plantarum. Then we have kefir and yogurt, also good for lactobacillus and bifidobacterium. And then, and then things that have polyphenols, polyphenol-rich foods. This is blueberries, all types of berries. It's pomegranates. It's going to be cacao.

• 40:16Josh Axe?

  It's green tea. It's extra virgin olive oil. These are some things categorically that you can add into your diet that are going to feed the good guys in your gut microbiome. So again, here's the key in a nutshell. Eat more fiber-rich plants, up to 30 different a week. Get more fermented foods daily like kefir, sauerkraut, yogurts. Eat more polyphenol-rich foods and antioxidants. Get more resistant starch. Potatoes, especially sweet potatoes, are a great option. And then you also want to just reduce inflammation. Get more omega 3s is great for the gut microbiome. Fish oil, flax, walnuts are great options. And then let's walk through the supplements that most change and create a healthy gut microbiome.

• 40:59Josh Axe?

  Number one are soil-based probiotics, SPOs, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus coagulans. These survive the stomach acid and have a big impact. Remember, I said they act like a bulldozer clearing out the bad bacteria, which then make room for more good bacteria. Now, I also want to talk about prebiotic fiber. If you have mast cell or histamine issues, you want to use a type of fiber called PHGG. And MCP, that's modified citrus pectin. So PHGG is the best if you're having these histamine reactions. It creates the growth of good bacteria without the over fermentation. Now, if you just generally want what's best, you can get inulin. You can get acacia fiber, psyllium husk.

• 41:42Josh Axe?

  Those are all fine there as well as prebiotic fiber. And then number three, one of my favorite supplements. This is actually a type of friendly yeast for if you have acne, rosacea. If you have bad bacteria overgrowth is sarcomyces boulardii. This is especially good for diarrhea. It's also very good if you've used an antibiotic. So sarcomyces boulardii, a powerful type of probiotic that can reset your gut microbiome. Number four supplement that's great for your gut microbiome is L-glutamine powder. Doing five grams once to twice daily. This is a fuel for your gut lining very in a different way than butyrate or butyric acid. So you can take L-glutamine powder. Another big one is called zinc carnecine. Zinc is your gut repair mineral.

• 42:27Josh Axe?

  It helps repair your gut if it's been damaged. Number six, omega, omega three fish oils. Now you can also take and get butyrate as a supplement. So you can take omega threes and butyrate and things that actually support the growth of good bacteria in your gut and support that gut lining. But these would be my top supplements to consider taking for resetting your gut microbiome. So in a nutshell, here's what you want to do. Get more plants to support diversity. Eat more fermented foods. Feed those bacteria in your gut with more types of fiber. Right? You want to protect them with polyphenols and getting better sleep and managing stress. And you just want to reinforce the bacteria you already have by adding more in by taking

• 43:12Josh Axe?

  a quality probiotic supplement. Those are the things that are going to move the needle the most at transforming your gut microbiome. And, and one question I get is how fast can I see my gut microbiome change? Well, the answer is really in about two to four days. I mean, your diet starts to shift your microbes very, very quickly. In two to four weeks, according to clinical studies, your short chain fatty acids can start to Your digestion improve, energy and regularity improve. And then in three to six months, you can literally have a completely new gut microbiome. But the thing I would say is you just want to create a consistent plan of the right diet, the right lifestyle, the right supplementation in order to retrain and change your gut microbiome. Now, I've probably answered a lot of the questions you have.

• 43:55Josh Axe?

  However, I do want to answer some of the most common questions I get more of in a rapid fire way. When it comes to questions about the gut microbiome. Here's the first question, do I really need a probiotic? Here's what I would say, food first, fiber, fermented foods, polyphenols, those should be first. But a targeted probiotic, especially if you've used an antibiotic or you know, your gut microbiome is not where it should be, absolutely will help move the needle. So think about the fermented foods and the fiber and the polyphenols as the foundation. But then, yes, in addition, for most people, I think a probiotic is necessary. I take one nearly every single day. Another common question is, what's better, fiber or fermented foods? Ah, that's tough.

• 44:39Josh Axe?

  I actually think that fiber is more important. But I do think for a lot of people, fermented foods have loads of benefits. You know, there's a study out of Stanford in 2021 and they thought fermented foods actually raised your diversity the most. So fiber increased the growth generally the most. But then fermented foods created more diversity. So fiber helps you go deep and build more, but fermented foods help you go wider. So really they act synergistically together. Another question, how long until it changes? As I mentioned, two to four days. Your change can happen pretty quickly in your gut microbiome. Here's another one, are artificial sweeteners bad for your gut?

• 45:20Josh Axe?

  I mean, some are, you know, some studies show that saccharin and sucralose appear to change your gut microbiome. So they don't get a free pass. I would say you're better off doing honey. By the way, honey and manuka, manuka honey specifically is probably the best form of carbohydrate for balancing out your gut microbiome. So if you're gonna use a sweetener, honey should be your number one sweetener. After that, monk fruit, stevia, alulose, I think are the next best options.

• 45:52Josh Axe?

  Another question here is leaky gut real? Yeah, there are now thousands of studies, thousands on intestinal permeability and its connection to everything from autoimmune disease to mood disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, headaches, and a number of conditions. And so, yes, leaky gut absolutely is real. If you look up and go to PubMed and look up intestinal permeability, you will see thousands of studies there. Here's another question. This is a really good one. Why do I get histamine reactions? Here's why. It is connected to your gut dysbiosis. Okay? And here's what typically happens.

• 46:33Josh Axe?

  You have a bacteria like H. pylori, and bacteria should really be living in your colon. If they go from your colon and up into your large intestine, but they get all the way up into your small intestine, like a condition called SIBO, that's small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, that they shouldn't be up there. It's not the right environment. This can start to create more of what we call, it can lower something called DAO. It's an enzyme that sort of clears out some of these, the histamine creation, and that can create those histamine reactions. Here's what I found clinically. Lowering stress, the single biggest needle mover for reducing histamine. Okay? So that's just not overworking, just going on more walks around your meals.

• 47:16Josh Axe?

  Licorice root extract, like chewables, tend to be good for, for that. Ginger, just moving your body. So walking, reducing stress, ginger and licorice are some of the biggest things that will start to help to reset your body. And then if you are gonna, and then staying away from fermented foods, vinegar, really acidic foods, all of those things are gonna help. And if you have histamine reactions, you actually don't want to take traditional probiotics or fiber. You want to take soil-based organisms, and you also want to take sun fiber or PHGG, as I mentioned earlier, as your main source of fiber. Another question, does stress really change my gut? Absolutely. Chronic stress actually shifts your entire community.

• 48:01Josh Axe?

  It weakens your gut barrier. Of all the things I've mentioned, outside of antibiotic drugs, which are probably the most damaging, stress is probably the most damaging to your gut microbiome. Here's another question. Do I need a microbiome test? Here's what I would say. Start to make the changes that I shared with you. And if you still haven't seen the changes you want, then I would encourage you to see a practitioner at the Health Institute, or the Longevity Clinic, or find a good functional med doc and get a GI map. So if you try what I just shared with you, and you have a plan that's created for you, and you follow the plan that I generally laid out for you, and you still need some help, then yes, getting a GI map, seeing a practitioner can be a great idea if you need additional help.

• 48:43Josh Axe?

  Now, here are four things to remember. You're half-microbe. Half of the molecules in your body, those are microbes. Okay, the ecosystem is part of who you are. They're a critical organ. Number two, the gut talks to your other organs, especially your brain. Okay, this is why you want to optimize your gut, because it impacts every cell, organ, tissue of your body. Number three, breakdown is a chain reaction, right? Low fiber, low polyphenol intake, not enough movement, poor sleep, stress, taking antibiotics or glyphosate, those create this downward reaction, eventually leading to inflammation,

• 49:26Josh Axe?

  autoimmune disease, obesity, and chronic illness. Number four, food is the fastest lever. More plants, more variety, more fiber will move the needle the fastest for the health of your gut microbiome. And hey, before you go, I have three quick favors to ask. Three might seem like a lot, so maybe just do one of these. Okay, number one, subscribe. Okay, hey, listen, stop guessing about your health. Every week on the show, I'm diving deep into how to heal using natural medicine. If you're not subscribed, you are missing out on some incredible upcoming interviews and guests. You're not subscribed, it won't show up in your feed. By the way, it's also the number one thing you can do to support the show. So thank you all of you for subscribing. Number two, share. Think about somebody that could benefit from this. And number three,

• 50:11Josh Axe?

  Here's my gift to you. I created a free gut reset guide that walks you through exactly how to heal your gut microbiome. You can go to the show notes and the link will be in there and download that. If you want to learn everything I talked about today, but even deeper and have it on hand, this is a PDF I created that goes through all of this and so much more in detail in terms of a protocol. You can find that in the show notes. And here's my gift to you for all of you that are watching on YouTube is I created a free gut reset guide. If you want to know exactly how to heal and transform your gut microbiome and even more detail than I shared on the show today, come at gut reset and I will send you my free gut reset guide. This goes through

• 50:56Josh Axe?

  the top supplements, the top herbs, the top foods, meal ideas, the top biomarkers, everything you need to do to reset and heal your gut microbiome. It also has all of the research links of all the studies we talked about and so much more as part of that free guide. So remember this, if you heal your gut, it changes everything in your body, not just your gut, every cell, every tissue, every organ. So up your fiber, up your plant variety, up your probiotics. If you do that, you're going to have a healthier gut microbiome for it. Also, I want to say thanks so much for tuning into the show. Remember every week I'm diving deep in how to heal your body physically, mentally, spiritually, and take your health and life to the next level. I'll see you on the next episode.