The Weeds in Your Grass?

by Glen Depke

I know, it sounds like I am writing an article for a prominent fertilizer company, but actually this cannot be further from the truth. When I talk about the weeds in your grass I am referring to the bacteria in your gut.

The fuel for this article comes from a recent but somewhat normal recognition of clients with detrimental bacteria. You know, the bad stuff that is creating gut/brain issues, immune dysfunction, chronic inflammation and adrenal issues? More and more these days, I see stool collection results showing some abundant amount of detrimental bacteria. I may look at this differently if I was recognizing less protozoa, parasites, H-pylori and such, but that is not happening. Clients are piling on the challenges to their gut and it is no wonder why there are so many symptom issues for so many people.

Let's start with the analogy that I use on almost a daily basis in my practice to help make sense of this.

Think of your lawn. Let's say it is the summer months and rain has been scarce. Now if you are not watering and feeding your lawn at this time, the lawn will begin to become sparse. The sparse lawn will then allow for the growth of weeds,which do not need to same nutrient or water content as your lawn. Over a rather short period of time, if you do not take care of the weeds, they will definitely take over your lawn. I know, you see this all the time.

So what do you do if you recognize this challenge?

Well, if you are like most, you will call your local landscaper and have them come to spray the lawn with weed killer. While that may do something as far as getting rid of the weeds, overall it will create an even tougher environment to cultivate a healthy, lush, green lawn. Now if you want to do this in a very health way, you honestly do not even need to worry about the weeds. Remember, the weeds are not the problem. The problem was that your lawn became sparse due to a lack of proper hydration and nutrition. So the answer would be to feed your lawn a natural fertilizer and water your lawn properly. This would allow the lawn to grow thick and lush.

So what happens with a think lush lawn? It chokes out the weeds. Ah, ha...

We can now take that into your gut.

As mentioned above it is becoming more and more common to see abundant amounts of detrimental bacteria in the gut. Based on the analogy above, does it make sense to simply take take an antibiotic to kill the bacteria? 

Absolutely not? Now to be fair, some bacteria are such an issue that an antibiotic may be necessary but that is not the case with most that I run across with clients in my clinic. The answer lies in feeding the gut what it needs so your beneficial bacteria is heavily colonized, thus choking out the detrimental bacteria.

So how do you feed your gut this bacteria? 

Of course you go to the local grocery store and buy yogurt, right? Not so fast! The conventional yogurt in the grocery stores are pasteurized, which means the beneficial bacteria is dead. Dead bacteria does not have a positive impact for you. If you cannot achieve your goals in this manner, what is a person to do.

Here are some tips for you:

• Raw dairy has live beneficial bacteria. This can be purchased conventionally in only a few states, so feel free to look for a local raw food coop in your area by following this link to RealMilk.com.
• Purchase raw fermented foods such as sour kraut, raw naturally fermented pickles or fermented teas such as kombucha. My wife Dawn, makes this at home for a small fraction of the cost of store bought. Actually, I am drinking one as I am writing this article. For instruction on how to make your own kombucha follow this link. 
• You can also make your own raw fermented vegetables. This is another benefit we enjoy at home. There are many avenues for learning how to do this by simply doing a Google search for making homemade fermented vegetables.

*If you are purchasing any of the above products at a store, please be sure they are not pasteurized and typically the word "raw" will be on the packaging or labeling for you. 

If you feel that making fermented food or drink is too much of a hassle, I get it. Notice I mention that my wife makes this for us, not me. Trust me, I am thankful for this. You may also find that you do not have the availability to purchase raw food or drink for yourself locally. If this is the case, you still have hope by using a quality prebiotic/probiotic. I say both pre and pro because the prebiotic truly sets up the best environment for optimal utilization for the probiotic. Depke Wellness does have a private formula that contains not only the prebiotic but also a 20 billion count of assorted probiotics AKA beneficial bacteria. 

For more information on the Depke Wellness Prebiotic/Probiotic Formula, call our office at 949.954.6626 or email me at Glen@DepkeWellness.com.

In the end, recognize that the weeds are not the issue, it is the lack of a thick, lush, green grass that is truly the issue.  

That is your beneficial bacteria!

As a little tidbit of info for you, there is more bacteria in your gut than there are cells in your body...make sure it's good bacteria!


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