BenGreenfieldFitness.com/brokengut You've probably seen it before. The classic photo of a marathoner bent over the road, puking their guts out. Or a triathlete hunched over with abdominal pain on the bike. Or the bodybuilder wandering around the gym with persistent annoying gas, the weekend warrior unable to get through a single run without bloating or diarrhea, or the health nut who seems to be constantly constipated no matter what they do. Today, we're going to delve into why apparently healthy people, especially athletes and exercise enthusiasts, get broken guts, and what they can do about it.   is considered a leader in the functional medicine movement, as both a clinician and lecturer. He frequently speaks nationally to health care professionals as well as to the public. Dr. Ruscio has lectured at UC Berkeley, at the Ancestral Health Society and performed numerous interviews. Dr. Ruscio is a post graduate continuing education provider at Life Chiropractic College West. He has a clinical practice in Northern California where he specializes in functional medicine and sees patients both domestically and internationally. He is currently writing a book on digestive conditions and thyroid disease. He is also currently working toward launching a clinical trial in his office in 2015. Dr. Ruscio obtained his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Life Chiropractic College West and has completed post-doctoral specialty training in Functional Medicine. Prior to his specialty training, Dr. Ruscio obtained his B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. -Dr. Ruscio's personal diet, and what his typical day looks like (including his meal of choice at Whole Foods)... -The surprising things that happen to your gut when you combine calories and high levels of physical activity... -Whether athletes should fast, and what happens when an exercise enthusiast "stops the flow of calories" and fasts... -How an "elemental diet" works to reduce stress on the gut... -When you actually should consider starving the bacteria in your gut... -Whether you can combat "overstressing" the gut with food by simply using things like digestive enzymes... -The biggest mistake most people make with cleanses, enemas and detoxing... -How you can heal damage to the valves passing through your gut... -If you could test anything and everything going in your gut, what you should test... -And much more! Resources from this episode: - -Study: - - - - - - - - - - More notes: This study was in the journal Gut in 2014:    This study compared activity level and diet of professional Rugby players to that of non-athletes of similar size, sex and age. ·        Your gut contains many sensors called toll-like receptors or TLRs.  These TLRs are responsible for monitoring “stuff” in the gut; specifically they help us identify good stuff from bad stuff. ·        Exercise may modulate these sensors   and even prevent them from telling your immune system to attack.    Remember too much “attack” signaling can occur in autoimmune conditions.        It has been shown that hormones releases during exercise, like noradrenaline, stimulate the growth of non-pathogenic, commensal (aka ‘good’) E.Coli, as well as other gram-negative bacteria. o     o     o   E. Coli is often stereotyped as being a bad guy, however there are many types of E. Coli, several are good guys.   In fact some E. Coli probiotics have shown impressive results for treating inflammatory bowel disease (Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease) o   o   o   and IBS o   o     However, just because some exercise is good does not mean more is better.  It has been shown that those who perform extreme levels of exercise are at increased risk for infection.   o   o   o   o   o     Too much exercise may also cause leaky gut This is likely because too much exercise can cause immune suppression.  This hints at the importance of balance.  For example other studies have shown moderate exercise may also re