Tag Archive for: irritable bowel syndrome

Cysteine for Gut Health

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The science behind the treatments of tomorrow lies with basic research today. There have been a couple of studies published recently that use building blocks of food to treat specific conditions. Let’s take a look at the first one today.

Researchers at MIT conducted a study to see if a specific amino acid could help the digestive system recover after damage due to radiation therapy for cancer. They tested 20 amino acids and found that cysteine stimulated the healing process in mice. They found that a high-cysteine diet increased the production of intestinal stem cells. While the actual biochemical process is very complex, it’s ready for human trials.

Why so quickly? Cysteine is a natural substance the body needs. Putting people on a high-cysteine diet for a time would provide no harm and may provide a boost to gut repair. In looking at the references, this approach is also being looked at for people with Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome.

How do you get a high-cysteine diet? Meat, dairy, legumes, and nuts are all high in cysteine, and it’s also available as a dietary supplement. If you have such issues, talk with your physician about giving the diet a try to see if it will help. Zeaxanthin is the next nutrient we’ll look at on Saturday.

Tomorrow night is the Insider Conference Call. I’m going to be answering Insider questions as well as discussing a couple of success stories for people who used GLP-1 RA to lose weight. Become an Insider by 8 p.m. tomorrow night and you can join us.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09589-5

Bioavailability Continues with Absorption

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On Tuesday I talked about some of the processing required to get nutrients ready for absorption. The next phase of bioavailability is the absorption of the nutrient from the gut into the bloodstream. Let’s look at what’s involved.

The absorption process occurs via the intestinal epithelial cells and they vary in size and function in the small and large intestine. Some nutrients such as lipids may use a passive process to be absorbed. Sugars, amino acids, and others will use an active process involving transporter enzymes as well as using energy to be absorbed. Vitamin B12 absorption is much more complicated; it requires something called intrinsic factor and then is passed to another protein carrier for absorption.

Here’s where absorption can go wrong. Maybe you don’t produce enough of a transporter enzyme for one or more amino acids. Perhaps you have a condition such as irritable bowel syndrome, and some of the areas where absorption occurs are missing. There are more scenarios related to absorption, but they can all lead to a lack of bioavailability. Then there’s the fact that all our bodies are the tiniest bit different. Because most absorption studies are done with simulations of the digestive system cells, product claims of greater bioavailability can easily differ from what actually goes on in your digestive system.

Let’s say that you have digested and absorbed a nutrient. Does that mean your body will actually be able to utilize the nutrient? That’s the topic of Saturday’s Memo.

What are you prepared to do today?

Dr. Chet

 

Reference: http://bit.ly/2raDviy