Greetings.
Eric Bakker.
Thanks for coming back.
We're going to talk about clostridium difficile or called C. diff as people call it.
C. Diff is a bacteria that lives in the gut.
The problem is the clostridium as it's an infection, a big infection that can occur
generally because of antibiotics.
In fact, I just read an interesting study that showed that there's one antibiotic called
clindamycin.
When it's given, it can literally ... Well, it's a big, big cause of clostridium difficile,
but it can literally ... The study actually shows that it wipes out the gut almost entirely
for two years.
One dose.
So most cases of C. Diff actually occur in hospital, I believe, up to 75%.
Also, one of the biggest causes is antibiotics.
If you look at the Mayo website or conventional medical websites, they say that the cause
is antibiotics and the cure is antibiotics.
I mean that's like saying, "Watch out for handguns.
They kill people.
By the way, if you carry a handgun, it'll help you not get killed."
That's almost like that kind of mentality, isn't it?
If you've got a clostridium difficile infection, my concern is that you've got like a 20% chance
of getting it again and again and again.
So the occurrence rate is quite high on this infection.
If you have got it, my recommendation would be to get a stool test done, a comprehensive
stool analysis done to see if there's any yeasts that are cohabiting there as well or
any other bacteria that you don't really want there.
Do you have parasites additionally?
What are your levels of good bacteria like?
You've heard me beating this drum many times before regarding stool testing.
If you've got a C. Diff infection, get a stool test done via proper lab like Genova Diagnostics
or Doctor's Data to find out what you're really dealing with here, what are the kind of co
pathogens you're dealing with.
That would give you a good insight into understanding what path to take when it comes to recovery
and what level of work you have to do to recover.
Some people recover that I've worked with with C. Diff have recovered really quick.
Others recover slow.
Others will get relapses, recurrences.
It's a matter of really getting that information up front so you're armed with that knowledge
to know where you're going to go to.
You'll also read recovery can be very poor for many people.
They recommend fecal microbial transplants in some cases.
In severe cases, people get hospitalized and even have operations with C. Diff.
The key thing is there's a specific diet for you to follow for C. Diff, but you may want
to certainly avoid aggravating foods in your diet.
You can get a look at my plan list.
I've spoken enough about foods and diets on this YouTube channel.
I've done so much work in this regard.
To keep a long story short, with C. Diff, it's definitely an advantage to be alcohol
and coffee free, coffee and tea and caffeine free for at least three to six months.
I would recommend the introduction of steamed vegetables or easy to eat foods.
You need to work at when your gut can tolerate of course.
You may find quite bad diarrhea or a lot of strong pain if you start eating salads and
even things like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar can be poorly tolerated by some people
with C. Diff.
Yogurt tends to be fine with many people I've found.
Even with a C. Diff infection, they can tolerate small amount of [inaudible] yogurt.
Be cautious with kefir and kimchi and sauerkraut unless they're well tolerated.
Proteins should be fine to eat as long as you keep them on the lean side and not too
much fat.
Fish and eggs should be perfectly fine to eat.
I'd just be cautious with the fruits.
On the Mayo website, they say you can eat white bread, bananas, oranges, all that kind
of stuff.
But I would beg to differ in that regard.
I don't think really white bread, bananas and oranges are great foods for people with
gut problems in general.
You'll need to take it nice and easy and of course, you'll need to drink a ton of water
because diarrhea is one of the big symptoms with C. Diff and dehydration is a big problem.
Grapefruit seed extract works quite well with C. Diff for many people.
It makes the gut stronger and it tends to clean the gut up.
But as I mentioned, do a stool test first and then see what you can do in terms of the
importance.
What's a priority to treat?
People with serious infection or hospitalized people obviously will be under medical care,
so there's not much you can do until you get home.
Fecal microbial transplant or FMT does work in some cases with C. Diff quite well especially
for a person who's had a recurrence on it and wants to make a big shift.
That's one case of FMT that I have noticed feedback from people, very successful feedback,
is C. Diff.
That's what it's being used for quite a lot now in the states I believe.
There you have it.
Try not to take antibiotics if you want to prevent clostridium difficile infection, especially
as you get older antibiotics are not a great idea because your immune system is going to
go down by default anyway.
But you could really rob the effectiveness of your immune system by taking antibiotics
too regularly.
It can push you into that C. Diff pathway, and that can predispose you to colitis and
a whole bunch of different problems.
In many cases of people with colitis, older people I've spoken to, developed it after
antibiotics.
So there you go.
There you have it.
A plain, very basic diet to get you back on your feet again.
Maybe some testing, and also a pledge not to use antibiotics again unless it's life
threatening.
Thanks for tuning in.