Dr. Ben Reebs

Checking serum B12 levels is critical to assess gut health as well as to consider bacterial overgrowth. 🔍

Why?

Approximately 20% of gut bacteria can produce vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin). 🦠
, more than 80% of gut bacteria require B12 for their metabolic reactions. 🔄

Though research is extremely limited, what this means is that B12 deficiency or excess can be intimately entwined with microbiome status. 🧬

Vitamin B12 plays a key role in: 🔑

Red blood cell formation 🔴
Neurological function 🧠
DNA synthesis 🧬
Energy metabolism ⚡

Leaky gut isn’t a question of if, it’s a question of when.

Also known as intestinal permeability, leaky gut happens ... to everyone. 🌀

Some common causes:

Diet, such as processed food 🍔
NSAIDs, antibiotics, steroids 💊
Stress 😓
Dysbiosis 🦠
Candida 🍄
Infection 🦠
Inflammation 🔥
Environmental exposure 🏞️

In my opinion, we are wired for intestinal permeability, as an evolutionary safeguard mechanism, in acute cases. 🧬

We’re just not meant to have leaky gut chronically, 24/7.

The truth, though, is that leaky gut is a symptom of something deeper, not a root cause in and of itself.

Treat the cause(s) of leaky gut, not the symptoms, for lasting results. 💡