The Pattern Library

The gut-brain connection is all about nourishing the microbiome to keep the GI tract happy and the mind at ease. The GI tract is made up of 100 million nerve cells, which is why it affectionately earns the title of "the 2nd brain". This is evidenced by the familiar feelings of "an anxious belly", "a gut feeling", "butterflies in the stomach". The mind is powerful and so is the gut! Here are 4 ways to nourish both: Set the stage -- in an earlier blog post, I talked about the

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most commonly diagnosed gastrointestinal disorder, likely because it acts as a catch-all diagnosis. Symptoms of IBS can include abdominal pain, cramping, bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation, or both. IBS is defined by having abdominal pain or discomfort at least 1 day per week for the past 3 months. Symptoms improve after having a bowel movement and are often associated with a change in stool frequency or appearance. There are many pos

Food allergy vs. food sensitivity vs. food intolerance: so many terms and so many tests, and they all can get jumbled! Let's start with setting these terms straight. A food allergy is an immune response to a certain food, which causes the body to make antibodies to the food. Reactions to food allergies can range from hives to difficulty breathing to anaphylaxis. The way to test for food allergies is measuring IgE antibodies through blood or skin prick testing. Food intolera