Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It

Having battled autoimmune disease, I thought I knew all about Leaky Gut. Well, surprise, surprise, I feel like I knew nothing. Dr. Axe is amazing and this is one of the most thorough and profound books I have read on the subject. And he advocates dirt!! Dirt is not our enemy and he advocates welcoming more "dirt" back into our lives. This book is highly recommended. If you are trying to eat better to live better, I'd also recommend that you buy a copy of "The Hungry Chick Dieting Solution" which is also on sale here on BN. It is a must read. It goes hand in hand with what Dr. Axe says about the foods that we eat, especially the very things hidden in your favorite foods. The advice about how to ensure that you are drinking enough water is worth the price of the book alone. Trust me, its not the eight glasses of water that they lied to you about. Buy it! Buy it! Buy it!

DrAxe is one of the leaders in staying healthy this book is a must read

I'm someone who's been following the microbiome research daily for a few years now. I catalog what I see in a wiki for others to access. I read this book as part of an investigation into what I saw as dangerous misinformation being spread that seemed to stem from a misinterpretation of the literature. - The book starts off with example of his mom's breast cancer & other related health problems being reversed with some standard changes such as removing processed foods, and taking a few supplements. Later on in the book he clarifies that he thinks one of the main things was the "Budwig diet" - a daily drink consisting of "goat's milk kefir (raw and organic), sprouted flax meal, flaxseed oil, stevia to taste". Attributing only to leaky gut, tons of things that are due to the wide variety of forms of gut dysbiosis. And the solution is to "eat dirt". Same as with all the others promoting this nonsense, he's misattributing damage done from antibiotics and poor diet to lack of environmental microbes, IE: dirt. Based on the assumption we're born sterile and develop our gut microbiome solely from the environment/dirt. Most of the recommendations are just general good food/supplements and being outdoors, but the eat dirt stuff is a dangerous misinterpretation of the literature, and jumping to conclusions based on incomplete data. Gives little to no backing/evidence for his "eat dirt" recommendation. Total junk. It's not even "junk science" as there is no science. It's mostly anecdotes with no scientific studies comparing the results of one behavior vs another, and measuring all health outcomes in both groups. I wasn't going in to this with high expectations based on what I've seen from his website previously, but this guy makes me non stop facepalm. IMO he's worse than any of the criticisms I've seen directed towards Dr Oz and Mercola. There are so many conflicting/contradictory statements in this book that I have to wonder at what point in his life did he lose the ability to make logical connections between multiple things. Was it due to problematic microbes he picked up from his dirt eating, or was it something earlier in his development that was the cause. Much of the book is just promoting generally healthy diet. Also promotes the use of essential oils for a variety of things. To add some perspective on the oils he promotes, one of them - Oil of Oregano, is a broad spectrum antimicrobial (which is completely contradictory to his warnings about antibiotics, and his overall recommendation to eat dirt) that in my experience was more damaging than many prescription antibiotics. AND it gave me no benefits when at least the prescription antibiotics did. Look up "appeal to nature fallacy". That's what he's doing. Common misinformation about probiotics regarding multi-strain & high CFU count. Later on contradicts that with a more accurate recommendation. It's like he's just regurgitating every bit of information out there, regardless of accuracy/contradictory. Example quotes: "All synthetic drugs cause leaky gut in some way" "Spikenard, an essential oil widely referenced throughout the Bible, can reduce stress, calm inflamed skin, stimulate the immune system, lower cortisol, and increase spiritual awareness." - A perfect example of the major problems in our medical/education systems. This guy is a medical doctor who is extremely uninformed/misinformed and spreading dangerous, non-evidence-based advice.

Looking for a numbness in my feet.